The Covenant II: The Ipswich Curse
by RedRogue
Summary: The sons of Ipswich have a new enemy, and some old ones... Caleb finds tragedy, Reid finds love, Tyler finds rage, and Pogue finds secrets. Like what is the Ipswich curse? What happens if their power's existence is exposed to the world? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1: The Sons of Ipswich

**_The Covenant 2 _– **_The Ipswich Curse _

-

**Chapter 1:**

-

They were brothers, the four of the sons of Ipswich, but, like brothers, they had their difficulties. Sometimes the love had to be forced between them. Sometimes they were loyal only because they had to be, like one is supposed to always love their family members, no matter what.

But most of the time, they were inseparable. One was rarely seen without another lurking around. The bond between them all was quite obvious, and never questioned.

Caleb was the Boy Scout, a take-charge kid with a strong foundation of beliefs and morals. While the others were perfectly content to get themselves in trouble, Caleb was the only one of them reluctant to do so. He had a voice of his own, and stood up bravely for what he thought was right. Always.

Pogue Perry was the logical one, looking to most issues with a level head and rational thought, but when provoked he was a lethal opponent—and it didn't take much to provoke him.

Then there was Reid Garwin, the hothead of the group and about as rebellious as they came. He believed solely in a good time, no matter what it took. He left it to the others to keep the gang straight… and left it to himself to show them how to have a good time.

And lastly, there was Tyler Sims, a quiet type. He spoke when he felt it was right to speak and went where he felt he was meant to go. He had the makings of a good kid in him, but a bad streak was obtained by the contagious attitude from his Covenant brothers.

People had always said it was because of their close families: that they had grown up together and thus were automatically close. If only they knew what _really_ had brought these boys together…

Not many knew of the 'truth' behind the boys of Ipswich, except for a special few. Family, of course, was among the few. Caleb Danvers, the leader and peacekeeper of the team, had told his girlfriend as well, and now, after the 'Chase incident', another of the group, Pogue, had let his own girlfriend in on the deal, since it was rather hard to explain her sudden appearing and disappearing 'sickness' otherwise.

Other than that, the bond between the sons of Ipswich remained a mystery. Family and close friends had sworn secrecy, even to their deaths. Exposure of their 'gifts' was out of the question. So, the boys lived among the small town as 'normal' kids, going to school, and simply living out their lives as one of them.

Boredom would usually arise in school, as was common for students, but for those who possessed certain 'abilities', it could be quite interesting given the opportunity.

Today, there came an opportunity.

During a particularly painstaking lecture on economic depression, Reid, the rebellious one, leaned to his partner in crime, Tyler.

"Watch this," Reid whispered, then closed his eyes so no one could see that his iris's had gone black.

As the teacher was writing the stages of economic depression on the chalkboard, the words he wrote began to disappear, like an invisible eraser was following his scribbling hand.

Some kids around began to laugh, others began to gasp, but there was only one who began to glare.

Caleb looked up to his friend and Ipswich brother Reid who was sitting in the row to his right and one down, sensing the power was coming from him.

Suddenly the stack of books on the teacher's desk fell to the floor, as followed the pencil sharpener, the pencil holder, and the mess of ungraded test papers.

More laughs soon followed at the teacher's surprise and confusion, and his rush to get it cleaned up and get back to the lesson.

"Alright, quiet, now," the teacher commanded boldly, then went to the nearby window and closed it, figuring it had been the wind that had disconcerted his desk arrangement.

That's when the bell rang.

"Be sure you're caught up on homework by Friday," the teacher called as he bent to finish replacing the items on his desk. "Be sure to have your reports handed in by then."

Caleb dropped to his knees by Mr. Bishop, the teacher, and helped him pick up his stray books as the rest of the kids finished exiting the classroom.

"I'm really sorry about that," Caleb said, feeling the immense need to remedy the mistake of one of his own.

"Don't worry about it," Mr. Bishop sighed with frustration. "It's not like you had anything to do with it, right?"

Caleb smiled shakily, fighting his thoughts from showing on his face.

"Right…" he said reassuringly. Reid was surely going to get a stiff talking-to for this one. "Have a good day, Mr. Bishop," he said good-naturedly, then took his leave.

-

**This should be the start of a good one. After seeing the movie yesterday, I immediately thought 'sequel', and came home to write one myself. Please review and tell me what you think.  
Signed,**

**--RedRogue**


	2. Chapter 2: The Lady in the Water

**Chapter 2:**

**-**

_Camp Iwanahee, Massachusetts, July 2001_

-

A young boy the age of thirteen walked through a broad field of tall grass and tall weeds, weaving his way on a dirt path through to a large cabin in the distance.

He didn't know if he was going to make it. The knot at the bottom of his stomach was becoming so much he could barely walk… barely stand…

Still, the image of the cabin in the near future kept him upright, hand holding his hurting abdomen, trudging through the sunny day to the promise of his destination.

Once he reached the door, his three friends immediately saw that something was wrong, and rushed to him.

"Caleb," the tallest one with long red-brown hair interrogated him. "What's the matter?"

"It's happening," he spat out breathlessly.

"He's converting," the blond, Reid, realized first. "Quick, get a bucket. He's gonna blow any second!"

Tyler, the shortest and pudgiest of the group, hurried off in search of one, while Pogue brought him a chair to sit on and Reid put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

"It hurts…" the young sick boy muttered, clenching his stomach hard in pain, and looking to his friends with sorrow.

"His eyes," Pogue breathed, pointing to their patient with new wonder. Reid moved next to him for a better look, and Tyler, who was back with a small, empty trash can from the cabin bathroom, only stared in awe. The sick boy's irises had suddenly fallen to dark, with no coloring of any kind, just two black orbs looking back at them.

The boy coughed loudly and black liquid began to escape from his mouth, dripping down his lip and chin like blood.

"The bucket!" Pogue snapped at Tyler. "Give him the bucket!"

As soon as the bucket was placed into the boy's hands, he suddenly heaved a gob of black gel-like substance into the bucket, once, then again.

"Gross," Reid commented.

"Don't diss him," Pogue warned. "We're _all_ going to have to go through this pretty soon."

Tyler patted his vomiting friend on the head.

"Happy birthday, Caleb," he said to him with an encouraging smile.

-

_Present day_

_-_

It was like yesterday, when Caleb had first received his power at that dumb summer camp Iwanahee. One by one, his friends had joined him into the 'conversion' of which their powers sprouted in them. He had known it was coming, even when he was young, and he had dreaded that day like the day he was going to die, which wasn't too far from the truth. He knew that the powers could kill him if overused, though the others seemed to disregard his warnings like birthday cards from distant relatives.

The fact was that Caleb was the only one of the four that had seen the effects of User abuse firsthand… with his own father. The sight alone of his withered, decaying old man was enough to keep him and his powers in line. If only the others understood like he did.

But granted, once in a while Using was sure good fun. If they were careful.

Too bad not all of them were careful. Reid especially, bordered dangerously on addiction, and ever since their ascension Caleb worried for his friend.

That was really the only reason he was angered so by Reid's display today in the classroom, where he had intentionally disrupted the class by provoking the teacher. So, to express his slight displeasure, he slammed Reid violently against the school wall, in one of their emptier corridors so he could yell at him in seclusion.

"What are you _thinking_, Reid?" Caleb shouted close to Reid's face so he could be sure to have his attention. "You Used in public? In a _classroom_?Are you _completely_ out of your mind?"

"Get out of my face, Danvers," Reid snapped, fiercely shoving Caleb away from himself. A covenant member could always tell one was mad when they used each other's last names.

"You laughed too, admit it," Reid countered. "It's okay, it was funny."

"Addiction is _not_ funny, Garwin," Caleb stressed. "_Exposure_… is _not_ funny."

"What's the fun of having powers when we can't use them, huh?" Reid yelled back. Caleb rolled his eyes and rubbed the stress point on the bridge of his nose. He'd heard this argument too many times before.

"Reid…" he started, but Reid wasn't finished yet.

"You know what? I am TIRED of you being in my face about it all the time. You don't get on Pogue like this, or Tyler…"

"They don't Use like you do," Caleb retorted. "Don't you get it? You're _killing_ yourself. That's why I'm up on you all the time, because one day it won't be fun anymore and I'm trying to save you from ever seeing that day."

Reid looked at Caleb and seemingly had nothing to respond to that.

"Com'on," Caleb said, trying to make nice again, motioning for Reid to follow him. "I'll race you."

"_I'll_ race," Reid replied haughtily, straightening his jacket over-exaggeratedly to express a point to him, before leaving. "_You'll_ lose. _Then_ we'll see who's not having 'fun' anymore, huh?"

The two students, of course, were talking about a swim match. When they were in freshmen year, the only way to get out of P.E. was to join the swim team. Caleb had gone first, and the rest had decided they had wanted to stay together during the deadly freshman year, so thus they all joined. And they all came to enjoy it together.

They found Tyler at the boy's lockers, along with Pogue who was just leaving to go find his girlfriend Kate. Tyler was drying off but agreed to watch the pair race saying he had nothing better to do.

But as they emerged from the abandoned locker room, expecting an abandoned pool (it _was_ after hours) they instead came out to find a shadow in the water. It was a pale shadow with a wavy red mass of hair and a cute butt.

"Ooo, it's a lady!" Reid announced excitedly.

"_That_ wasn't here when I left," Tyler informed them. "Now I'm glad I stayed."

"Hold the hormones, guys," Caleb warned. "Wait at least until you see her face before you imagine her naked."

"Too late," they said in unison, then laughed.

The girl finally came up for air at the other end of the pool, ascending the pool stairs with a natural sensuousness. She hadn't noticed she had an audience just yet. The boys simply watched in silence as the slender mahogany haired girl walked across and grabbed a white towel to cover her matching swimsuit.

"Look at those _legs_," Tyler said, cocking his head to get a better look. "They just go on forever…"

"Dude, you don't have to tell me," Reid countered. "I'm not blind."

The girl had apparently heard them, since her head suddenly snapped up in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" she called over to them. "It's after hours."

"We're on the swim team so we have special permission," Caleb called back. "What's _your_ excuse?"

She gathered her things and started to walk over to them.

"I like to swim," she said blatantly. "Sorry to cut in on your pool time, gentlemen."

"As far as I'm concerned, you can cut in anytime you like…" Reid said, quite obviously scanning her body down. The white tankini left just enough mystery to crave more of her.

"Hey, I remember you," she said, stopping her walk to look at them properly. "You're those boys everyone always talks about."

"That's us," Reid agreed with a smirk.

"What do they say about us?" Tyler asked.

"They say stay _away_ from all of you," she laughed. "Now I see what they mean."

She dried off her hair with her towel as she grinned flirtatiously back. She didn't seem to mind that Tyler and Reid were checking her out without shame, while Caleb stood behind them taking on their shame for them.

"So you know us, but we don't know _you_," Tyler told her smoothly.

"Yeah, you do," she replied. "I just haven't been back here since freshman year. I'm Elle Bishop. Herald Bishop's daughter? I think you have him in Economics? You must, since you're seniors like me."

"_You're_ little Ellie Bishop?" Caleb spat out in surprise. "Got rid of the glasses, I see."

"Yeah," she confirmed. "Discovered conditioner too. Does wonders for the frizz."

"_Damn_," Reid said in shock. "_You're_ Smelly Ellie?"

"It's _Elle_," she retorted with offense at bringing up a bad memory. "And yes, as I recall, you were the one who made _up_ that name for me."

"Naw, it must've been Tyler, or Pogue…" Reid assured her sheepishly, squirming his way through with a lie.

"It was _you_," she insisted. She knew better than to fall for it, and glared with a cold confidence.

"_Wow_," Tyler approved bluntly, looking the reformed loser over in a whole new light. "The summer's have been good to you."

"Thanks," she said with another winning smile, batting her green eyes at Tyler. "You're cute."

Reid caught her eye and winked in her direction. He was not going to give up so easily.

"Well, _I_--" he started, but she shot him a harsh look and cut him off.

"--_You're_ not," she huffed.

Reid seemed disgruntled at her immediate distaste of him, and he and Caleb saw quickly her loving eyes were set on Tyler.

"I'll see you around, huh?" she said to him.

"You bet," Tyler promised. She smiled at him as she continued on her way. He grinned back quite broadly, resembling the Cheshire cat until she left out of sight.

"Oh, she wants me," Tyler whispered happily to his friends. "_God_, she's hot."

"Yeah," Reid agreed with anger in his voice. "She is. And I saw her first, so you need to back the hell off."

"Instant replay, Reid," Tyler countered. "Her like _me_. Her hate _you_."

"He's got a point," Caleb chimed in. Reid whipped around to confront Caleb with fire in his eyes, his temper at the boiling point.

"Did I _ask_ you?" he snapped back.

"Hey!" said a security guard from behind them, putting his flashlight on them like a searchlight. "What are you boys doing in here after hours?"

Tyler leaned over to Caleb and said in a low voice:

"Caleb, were you lying about that 'special permission' thing?"

"Maybe a little," he admitted regrettably.

"BEAT IT!" Tyler shouted, taking off down through the locker room, Caleb and Reid close at his heels.

-

"So that magic you do," Kate whispered in her boyfriend's ear as they sat on his motionless motorcycle, with no hurry to leave the parking lot of the restaurant at which they had just eaten. "What exactly can you do with it?"

"Anything," Pogue replied.

"_Anything_?" she repeated with surprise.

"Just about," he agreed.

"Can you read minds?" she asked, digging her chin on the shoulder of his leather jacket.

"If I want to."

"Can you read _my_ mind?"

He looked back at her with an amused smirk, staring at her good and hard for several moments, then announced:

"You're a _baaad_ girl," he said with a smile. She laughed out loud at this with embarrassment, her dark cheeks turning slightly pink.

"So you _can_ read minds," she decided.

"Let's just say I didn't _have_ to," he said with another smile, then kissed her on the mouth gently. "Move in with me," he commanded abruptly.

She pulled away with surprise.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" she wondered aloud.

"Whichever one will get you to say yes," Pogue said charmingly, kissing her again.

"What about Sarah? She's going to have to find another roommate—and not everyone is as _nice_ as I am."

"Com'on," he coaxed. "There's only a couple weeks left in the school year and I want to spend them with you. I mean, I want to spend as much time as I can with the girl I'm gonna marry after I head off to college to get a good job so I can by her a good ring and a good house."

Kate's smile returned even bigger than the last.

"Are you serious?"

"It don't get much more serious than this, babe. What do you say?"

"I say okay," she said quietly through her pleased and blissful expression.

"Okay?" Pogue repeated in surprise.

"Yeah," she confirmed with a nod. "I say okay."

It took Pogue a moment or two to realize the reality of her answer, before it fully sunk in that she had agreed. Suddenly, Pogue laughed out loud like a madman and lifted Kate off the bike to twirl her around as their mouths locked in sweet merriment. Life couldn't get much better than this.

Too bad their wonderful world would all too soon be turned upside-down…

**-**

**As I was creating a character concept for Elle, I decided that her appearance would look most like Brice Dallas Howard in _Lady in the Water_. Thus, I introduced her in the water. Anyway, hope I could give you a good visual of her.Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	3. Chapter 3: The Announcement

**Chapter 3:**

-

"Hey, Caleb," Pogue said as they passed each other in the halls. "We're all going to Nicky's tonight, you in?"

"You know it," Caleb promised, walking backwards to face him as they talked. "What we celebrating?"

Pogue beamed broadly, and said nothing as they kept on down the hall, growing father and farther apart.

"What made you think we needed to celebrate?" he replied at last.

"The look on your face, my friend," Caleb said with a smile. "You had better let us in on the deal tonight."

"We're just going to enjoy ourselves, Caleb. Nothing more."

"_Lies_!" Caleb accused loudly and the other students in the halls began to stare at him. "You _suck_ at lying, Pogue! And wipe that stupid smile off your face—you're creepin' me out."

"Just be there!" he yelled before he went beyond earshot.

Caleb smirked and pondered all the things that Pogue could possible have to announce. Hopefully it wasn't something too drastic.

"Hey Sarah, how are you do--" he began when he snuck his head around the corner. He cut himself off when he realized he had come to his girlfriend's door with bad timing, for Kate and her were in the middle of a heated discussion. They were so wound up in their arguing that they didn't even realize he was there.

"It's just for a little while, Sarah!" Kate tried to settle her roommate down as she packed her things. "The school year's ending in two weeks!"

"How could you abandon me like this?" Sarah protested sadly. "We've always roomed together. How am I going to find another one this late in the year? Who's going to pay the other half of the rent?"

"I'm sorry," Kate said, and she meant it. "But who knows how much longer I'll get to have Pogue around. I'll help you find a new one if you want."

"I think I'll need the help," Sarah lamented.

"Wait," Caleb said, entering the room fully. "You're moving in with Pogue?"

"Whoa!" Kate jumped with surprise, dropping a picture of herself and Sarah on the floor, making it crack. She bent to pick it up. "Give me a heart attack, will ya?"

"I try," Caleb said apologetically.

"When did you get here?" Sarah said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Just now," he responded quickly, but his mind was on one track. "What's this about her moving in with Pogue?"

"I'm moving in with Pogue," Kate replied like it wasn't a big deal. "That's pretty much it."

"Oh," Sarah chimed in with cynicism. "_AND_ they're _engaged_."

"_Sarah_!" Kate scolded.

"Wow, congrats," Caleb said mechanically. "_Engaged_…"

"Don't tell Pogue you know," Kate told him. "He wanted to surprise you guys tonight."

"Believe me," Caleb assured her, still stunned. "I'm surprised."

"God!" Kate put a hand on her forehead to ease her stress. "He'll kill me if he knew I ruined it. Promise me you won't tell him!"

"I promise!" Caleb said, putting his hands up in alarmed submission.

"I'm not like you, Kate!" Sarah insisted, throwing her hands up with frustration. "If you leave I'll get thrown out on the street."

"Oh, it'll never come to that as long as I have anything to say about it," Caleb assured her.

"That's sweet," Sarah said with a grin. "But you're not helping."

"Oh, save your drama for your mama," Kate snapped at Sarah.

"_Who's_ making fun of my mama?" Reid asked, being the next to pop his head in the room. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"I'm afraid so," Caleb admitted over his shoulder to Reid standing behind him.

"What is this, a party?" Kate said with annoyance of having to avoid the growing number of people as she tried to gather her belongings about the room.

"Out, you two, get out," she commanded them, motioning for them to go out the door.

"Not until I know what's going on," Reid insisted, then as he saw Kate's packed boxes, it dawned on him. "Wait, is she moving in with _Pogue_?"

"Nice job, Sherlock," Caleb muttered over his shoulder again. He put his hand over his mouth like a gossiping little girl. "They're _engaged_," he scoffed.

"Oh, God," Kate said, slapping her head in complete aggravation. "Not him _too_! Pogue wanted to tell you all _himself_!"

"Tell us what?" Tyler said, coming in around Reid, who was still lingering in the doorway.

"That she's moving in with Pogue," Reid explained with no regards to Kate's fury. "They're engaged now, apparently."

"Wow," Tyler said with shock. "Engaged…"

"That's what I said," Caleb agreed.

"NO!" Kate screamed. "You guys have to swear you won't tell him I gave it away."

"Don't worry," Tyler said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll still act surprised."

"Yeah, we can do that," Caleb agreed.

"_Thanks_," Kate said with sarcasm, obviously not convinced.

"You can always crash with me and Tyler, you know," Reid offered Sarah with a flirtatious grin. "These dorms _are_ co-op."

Caleb frowned.

"God, Reid, please tell me you're _joking_," he said with obvious annoyance.

"Don't freak," Reid said, claiming innocence through a lying smile. "I'm just trying to help. Do you _always_ have to think the worst of me?"

"_Gee_, I wonder what gave me _that_ notion…"

"Are you getting on my case _again_, Danvers?" Reid quickly got in his friend's face.

"Hey, if you can just abide by some _rules_ some of the time--"

"Guys, guys!" Sarah refereed, coming in-between the two. "Reid, chill out, okay? Don't kill him… He _is_ my boyfriend, after all."

Reid headed for the door, mumbling on his way out:

"Only because he got to you first…"

He slammed the door shut behind himself, making the girls jump in fright of the sudden loud noise.

"Wow, Tyler's right," Sarah said decidedly. "Something's got that boy on edge."

"Yeah and I think I know what…" Caleb said with a frown, throwing Tyler a look. He shrugged back, seemingly oblivious.

-

"Now, remember guys," Kate warned as they jumped out of Tyler's hummer and headed to Nicky's entrance. "Be surprised."

"No problem," Tyler promised as Pogue came out the door to greet his girlfriend Kate.

"Hey, baby," Pogue said, kissing her on the neck. "You miss me?"

Reid rolled his eyes and looked somewhere else, their display disgusting him.

"Always," Kate promised. "Let's go in, huh?"

"Hey guys," Pogue called to the rest of them. "Enjoy yourselves—it's on me tonight."

"He should get engaged _every_ Friday night," Reid muttered to Caleb, who chuckled in reply.

Once inside, Pogue sat them all at a table, and they tried their best to seem unaware as to why. Pogue bought the drinks all around, but soon a half an hour had passed, and he hadn't said a thing about it. In fact, he seemed very natural, like he had no intention of _ever_ telling them. Even Kate seemed confused as to how he could manage to be so calm.

So Caleb threw him a bone.

"A toast!" he said, standing up. "To us, and the bright future surely ahead."

"And only looking brighter," Pogue said, taking the bait like a charm. "Which brings me to an announcement."

Caleb sat down as Pogue arose from his own chair, and Tyler and Reid did their best to act bewildered.

"An announcement?" Caleb said. "I thought you said we weren't here to celebrate, Pogue…"

"I lied," Pogue replied and took Kate's hand in his. "This may come as a bit of a shock… but Kate and I… Well, the thing is, guys… I asked her to marry me and she said yes."

Tyler's mouth fell open like a codfish and Reid clutched his heart like he was having a heart attack.

"No _way_!" Tyler said maybe a little over-exaggeratedly.

"You're _kidding_?!" Caleb followed suit.

"I am _SO_ surprised!" Reid chimed in.

Pogue's face fell.

"You all knew about this, didn't you?" he guessed.

"Well, Spenser is only so big, you know," Tyler caved quickly.

"We would've found out sooner or later," Caleb added in next.

"It's Kate's fault," Reid jumped in last.

"_Reid_!" Kate cried out, then slapped him on the shoulder.

"I should've known I can't keep a secret from you guys," Pogue said regretfully, then sat down with an amused grin on his face. "You guys are unbelievable."

"We know," Reid admitted with a smile.

"Except you, from what I hear," Pogue teased Reid. "What's this about you getting the diss off from a pool hottie?"

"You should have seen it," Tyler boasted of his moment of glory. "She wouldn't even let him get a word in edgewise."

"It was pretty brutal," Caleb agreed. "It's the first time I've seen Reid shot down like that."

"You could shut up, you know," Reid reminded them. "It wouldn't _kill_ you… though _I_ might if you keep this up any longer."

"It _must've_ been bad for how he's acting," Pogue decided. "He's going to need another beer. Yo, Nicky! We need another one over here!"

"Comin' right up, hotshot!" Nicky replied with a pleasant smile.

After that, Caleb and Sarah got up to dance, while Reid headed over to the pool tables with Pogue and Tyler. It was business as usual, as Tyler slapped down a twenty on the table.

"Red thong," he declared, then jerked his head over to a new waitress in a tight ragged jean miniskirt.

Pogue sighed and dug a twenty out of the pocket of his jeans.

"You _know_ I'm not going to be playing this game much longer, boys," he said, then slapped his twenty on top of Tyler's. "Green see-through."

Reid looked the girl over as his friends awaited his response.

"I'm not playing," Reid announced calmly, then bent back over to continue his game of pool, like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Tyler and Pogue looked at each other with complete and utter bafflement.

"_What_?" Tyler asked first. "You _invented_ this game!"

Reid took his shot and missed.

"Your turn," he said to Tyler with an even and dead tone.

His mouth wide open with shock, Tyler looked back over to the girl, wondering if she just wasn't Reid's type. It was truer than he realized.

"Hey, it's Elle!" Tyler said in a loud voice.

"Gee, _you're_ observant," Reid drawled sarcastically, tapping his fingers as he impatiently waited for Tyler to take his shot.

"Elle?" Pogue said in confusion. "Who's Elle?"

"The pool hottie that dissed Reid," Tyler laughed. "My hero, Elle Bishop-- You know, that girl who tripped face-first into the garbage can freshman year?"

"_Oh_, Smelly Ellie!" Pogue caught on.

"The same," Tyler confirmed.

"Wow, milk does the body _good_," Pogue said approvingly.

"That's what _I_ said," Tyler said. "She was _so_ into me too--"

"Oh, would you just _shut _the hell_ up_, Sims?" Reid snapped. "Take your shot already, while we're young."

Reid was suddenly disgusted at the insolence of his friends, at his own example too. How could they degrade the girl like that? Hadn't they had _enough_ fun at her expense?

Finally, out of raw anger, Reid decided to test Tyler's true feelings for Elle, and slapped his twenty on top of theirs.

"Fine, white satin," he challenged.

Tyler stepped forward with black shaded eyes, beating Reid to the 'reveal'. As Elle sat down on a bar stool, the back of her skirt didn't go with her, and lifted to show quite plainly that she was indeed wearing… lacy, see-through, hunter green panties.

"How'd do you always know?" Tyler asked Pogue, impressed by his unfailing deductions.

"She's a redhead," Pogue replied, grabbing the bills off the pool table. "Redheads usually wear dark, earthy colors underneath. The lace thing was just a guess. Thanks again for your donations, gentlemen."

"Bastard," Tyler mumbled as Pogue left them to check on Kate. Reid stared at Tyler, shaking his head contemptuously. "What?"

"You panty-betted _Elle_?" Reid reprimanded.

"So?"

"You don't care that all your friends-- not to mention a couple of strangers-- just saw your wannabe girlfriend's underwear?"

"We did it to the last girl _you_ were into," Tyler said defensively, feeling a bit of his temper rising. "And what is it with you always crushing on our girls? You have a thing for _Kate_ now too?"

Reid immediately grabbed Tyler by the collar and pulled him close to his face.

"You take that back," Reid growled. "Take it back-- before I make you the last of the line of Sims, do you hear me?"

"Whoa, boys," Elle said, laying a hand on Reid's shoulder to pull him away from Tyler. Her touch had an instant calming affect to Reid's body. "You shove it or we shove you outside, capeesh?"

Reid let go of Tyler's collar and he straightened it haughtily.

"Heya, Elle," Tyler said, putting an arm around the girl just to further rub it in Reid's face.

"Oh, Tyler!" she said. "I didn't recognize you guys in _clothes_."

"Hey," Tyler said with a smile. "If you prefer the speedos, they're at the school."

She laughed heartily at his joke, and Reid decided he'd had enough. He threw his cue stick on the pool table like it was on fire and stormed off.

**-**

**Okay, I promise the plot will unfold very soon, if you'll just bear with me as I set it up for you. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	4. Chapter 4: The Loss of Control

**Chapter 4:**

**-**

"Hey, Caleb," Pogue called at the doorway of Nicky's, interrupting Caleb and Sarah's fifth dance in a row. "It's getting late. Kate and I are heading back."

Caleb waved them on.

"I'll see you back at the dorms," he replied, then went back to dancing. He stared at the lovely blond as he held her close in a slow song, wondering how in the world he had gotten so lucky. All the thoughts on marriage tonight had gotten him thinking of their future together. Would she wait for him once he left for college?

Her loving smile back was all the assurance he needed.

"God, you're beautiful," he said, holding her head against himself.

"You're not so bad yourself," she replied. "Are you happy for Pogue and Kate?"

"It's strange to think of Pogue as a married man," he admitted. "I always thought that I'd be the first of us to strap on the ol' ball and chain."

Sarah lifted her head to look at him threateningly.

"Figuratively speaking," he added quickly. "I'll just have to settle for a close second, I suppose."

"Nice recovery," she said appreciatively, her smile returning. She stared over his shoulder and out the window, and spotted Reid leaning on the railing outside.

"Is Reid okay?" she asked Caleb with concern. Caleb looked out the window too.

"He's Reid," he replied as if regrettably. "He's _never_ okay."

"Shouldn't you go talk to him?"

"Nah," Caleb said. "I know him. Tyler just worked him up and he just needs to blow off some steam. It'd be best if we leave him alone. He likes it that way."

-

Reid leaned out over the railing at the front porch of Nicky's bar and diner, staring out into the night. His eyes were glued to Tyler's hummer, wondering how mad Tyler would be if he tore it in half with his magic. Pretty mad, he knew, but it was still pretty damn tempting.

He looked down at his hands on the steel railing, gripping the bar until his knuckles went white. He let his rage flow through him, his frustration for the entire endeavor that was Elle Bishop.

He sighed and relaxed a little when he remembered her lovely face. It made him think, as to why this all got to him so deeply. He had let it go soon enough when it came to Sarah and Caleb. What was it about Elle? A few years back he never even would have given her a second thought, in fact, he went out of his way to make her life miserable back then. It was no wonder she hated him. It was too late to get her to go out with him now that—

"I'm hot," said a voice behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and there was Elle in the doorway, her hand on her hip and an intrepid look on her face. Reid looked to her, his harsh expression immediately falling smooth and suave, as was his reflex around beautiful girls.

"Sorry?" he said with confusion.

"It's blazing in there," she explained. "Why are _you_ out here?"

"Just needed some air," he replied, staring out at that stupid silver hummer again.

"You're a lair," she accused, trying to force through a level of timidity. Again, he looked to her with confusion.

"What?"

She sashayed over to him with an over-exaggerated hip swing.

"You're jealous. That's why you're out here stewing over it. Am I right?"

"What's it to ya?" he responded with flirting eyes.

Suddenly her expression became vicious, and she slapped him on the face.

"Ow…?" Reid said with confusion, holding his stinging cheek.

"You only _noticed_ me now that I squeezed into a few tight skirts, lost a couple pounds and slapped on a little make-up. How superficial is _that_, you jackass?"

Reid's eyebrows shot up at the name, and opened his mouth to speak, but she wasn't through just yet.

"Freshman year, the only attention you gave me was to make fun of my frizzy hair, or my frumpy clothes, or the way I talked through my braces. Now I'm back, I'm beautiful, you want me, and now you are _so_ NOT getting this."

"Did you come out here to make me feel better?" Reid retorted with a glare. "Because you're failing miserably."

"No, I came out here to make you understand how it feels to want something you will never _ever_ have, no matter how badly you want it… no matter how much you would give just to have one little taste…"

Her confidence began to falter when she said these words, losing her fervor when she looked at Reid's familiar gaze. Reid stared back into her pale sea green eyes seriously, looking nowhere else, as he stepped up close to her. She appeared uncomfortable immediately at his distance, her boldness subsiding. She shook her head, not knowing what to do or say.

Suddenly her anger returned, and glared at him like he had said something utterly repulsive. She stepped away from as if bewildered while trying to maintain her defiance.

"Eat your heart out, Garwin," she told him gallantly, stalking off with sassy strides. Then she threw open the door to Nicky's and escaped inside.

Reid watched the door close after her in shock, staring at it with wide eyes for several moments. What the hell had just happened?

Anger swelled over him, and he yelled out to the sky, letting his temper get the better of him. He threw his beer bottle fiercely at Tyler's hummer, broadly cracking it's windshield, then proceeded to kick in the bumper and knock out the taillights, calling out in fury all the while. Before he even realized he had come outside, Caleb was grabbing a hold of him to stop him.

"Reid, what are you _doing_?" he demanded.

Reid violently shoved off his friend's hold on him.

"What?" he laughed sadistically. "It's not like he has to _pay_ for the repairs."

Reid, deciding the conversation was over, began to storm off into the night streets alone.

"Where are you going?" Caleb called after him. "How are you going to get home?"

"I'll _walk_," Reid growled back.

"Reid, com'_on_," Caleb shouted, but knew it was no use.

"Caleb!" Sarah shouted worriedly, rushing out quickly with Tyler at her heels. "Kate just called… We have to go."

-

"What happened?" Caleb said, racing up with Sarah and Tyler just behind him. The red and blue lights from the police cars pierced through the windows of the school, and cops were all around questioning a few kids and even taking one to an ambulance.

Pogue was sitting on a nearby bench, as a cop was speaking to him. Kate was standing nearby, her face streaked with tears and her raven hair a cowlicked mess.

"What happened?" Caleb asked again, grabbing at Kate's arm.

"It's Pogue…" she sniffed. "He…"

Caleb realized that the cop was reciting rights to Pogue. His eyes fell to Pogue's wrists.

"Why is Pogue in handcuffs?" Caleb said, panic beginning to sweep through him like a wave.

"Shoot, man," Tyler said to his longhaired, leather-jacketed comrade as he glanced over to the boy laying on a stretcher, being carefully placed into the ambulance. "What did you _do_?"

"This drunk asshole was messing on Kate," Pogue replied in a low voice. "I only meant to scare him… I lost control…"

"You mind stepping away, son?" the cop said, scooting Tyler aside. "You can visit him downtown after we bring him in."

"What do we say he did, sir?" a younger cop asked with confusion, holding up a clipboard and anxiously awaiting the older cop's answer. "The kid has no inflicted wounds, besides those from the explosion."

"Well, he did _something_ to the kid," the plump man replied. "Put him down as aggravated assault with an explosive weapon, and we'll settle the specifics later."

Kate began to cry freely now into Caleb's shoulder, and he patted her back to console her.

"You should have seen it, Caleb," Kate said. "One minute, he was using it fine, the next, he was yelling in pain, saying that his head hurt… Then, boom."

"Boom?" Tyler repeated with confusion.

"Look for yourself. It was in the girl's bathroom."

The two boys, along with Sarah, peered around the corner, past the yellow police tape and into the girl's restroom curiously as Kate had directed. Beyond the doors, the sinks were spewing water like fountains onto the floor, half the stalls were knocked over, bent and broken, and there was a gaping crater in the black and white tile floor like a meteor had crashed. It was even still smoking.

"Pogue did _all_ that?" Caleb asked her, just to make sure.

"Yeah, I saw him," Kate said. "He had to have lost control, Caleb, he had to… he wouldn't risk hurting me like that, would he?"

"No," Caleb assured her, as Sarah comforted Kate by hugging her around the shoulders. "Something must've gone wrong."

"What could've gone wrong, Caleb?" Tyler asked him. "None of us have ever lost control like this before. We've never even lost control _at all_."

"I don't know," Caleb confessed. "But I will soon. For now, let's concentrate on getting Pogue out of jail."

**-**

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	5. Chapter 5: The Mistake

Hey peeps, I just saw the Covenant movie again yesterday and realized I made a little mistake about housing arrangements. Reid is roomies with Tyler, Pogue lives at an apartment, and Caleb lives with his mother. Chapter 3 has been slightly tweaked to mend this mistake, but the only change in the story is Reid no longer has to find a new place. Sorry for the inconvenience, it won't happen again. That's it.  
Oh, and one more thing. This chapter has some suggestive themes. You have been warned.  
Read on:

**-**

**Chapter 5:**

-

Deep in the shadows of Spenser's halls, a dark figure glared through the windows, watching as the police herded Pogue Perry into a cop car, as his friends watched close by with distress on each of their faces.

And this person smiled.

-

Caleb hung up the phone, and walked past the front desk to his friends standing by the holding cell where they were keeping Pogue. Caleb leaned his head on the bars of the cell, looking at his friend alone beyond them with such sadness.

"Alright," Caleb said to Pogue seriously. "Your mom is wiring the bail money as soon as the bank opens. You should out of here by tomorrow afternoon."

"Thanks, Caleb," Pogue replied in a low, defeated voice, sitting on the cot inside and staring at the wall ahead of him as if it held all the answers he was looking for. Sarah, Kate, and Tyler all watched in silence.

"You going to tell us what really happened?" Caleb pressed.

"You already know what happened," Pogue said, rubbing his face with his hands with fatigue. "I lost it. It was like there was something in my head, snapping the rope of my ability to control. Then I just exploded with It."

Caleb sighed with frustration.

"I just don't get it."

"You and me both, Caleb."

Then Pogue suddenly got up and went to the bars where Caleb stood.

"You know what _I_ don't get?" Pogue said with a sudden intensity. "Why none of you felt me Using. You would think with that much power coming from me…"

Caleb furrowed his brow.

"God, I hadn't thought of that."

"Neither had I until just now. We can still feel _you_ when you Use like that, even though you've already ascended."

Caleb shook his head, not knowing how to answer.

"God," Sarah piped up with worry. "You don't think it's _him_, do you?"

"What, you mean Chase?" Tyler asked, and Sarah nodded in reply.

Caleb scowled at the mention of the name of the man who not six months ago had caused him so much grief.

"Chase is dead," he insisted sharply, which quieted the room into an uncomfortable silence _real_ fast.

"Look," he said seriously, looking Tyler and Pogue each in the eye. "This could have happened to any of us—and we _can't_ risk it happening again… So I don't want _anyone_ Using _at all_ until we figure out what's doing this. Got it?"

Tyler nodded as Pogue said:

"You won't have to tell me twice. Once was bad enough."

-

"See you tomorrow, Nicky!" Elle called over her shoulder as she exited the bar after a long day of work. She dug through her purse for her car keys, fishing through the items in her large messenger bag before she finally pulled out her keychain. As she put the right key into the lock of her Taurus, she heard a noise in the empty parking lot.

She looked around quickly and saw nothing, and decided to forget it.

Then she heard footsteps from behind her. She whirled around to catch the culprit before he could hide, but there was no one to be found in the dense fog of the night.

"Who's there?" she said with fear, but of course, there was no answer.

She didn't see the light shadow sneaking up behind her, the ghostly presence of a dark figure, who quietly came from behind her, only to stick a doused napkin over her nose quite suddenly.

She would've yelled for help, had it not covered her mouth. But soon, the world around became even foggier than before, a haze falling over her eyes liked she had been drugged, and she collapsed to the ground.

"You'll make a nice present for some appreciative young boys," the spirit hissed, before evaporating into thin air…

-

Reid ventured through the fog by himself, alone on the night streets trying to clear his head. It seemed the more he walked the more flustered he felt.

Tyler was a wuss compared to him. Why would Elle choose Tyler over _him_? What did Tyler have that he didn't? Beside a clean slate with her, that is. Other than that, he just didn't get it.

She would see the light someday… he was sure of it. He'd _make_ sure of it.

If Tyler wanted to go head-to-head over this girl, then a fight was what he was going to give him. Suddenly the Covenant brother he had always been closest to seemed like the evilest person in existence. Screw the covenant, screw brotherhood, screw Tyler.

Then again, Tyler couldn't really help it if he liked Elle. What man in his right mind wouldn't, with that body? And he couldn't really help it if Elle liked him, since Reid had made her life hell back when.

Reid frowned. That decided it. It wasn't Tyler's fault, after all. It was his own.

It was a thought that made him depressed, and when he was depressed, he wanted to Use even more than any other time.

Just a little bit wouldn't hurt… Just enough to feel better…

Oh, but it _would_ hurt. His birthday was getting close and he was next in line to Ascend, followed closely by Pogue. Tyler still had a couple more months to wait, but Reid was the closer to addiction than both of them put together. He could feel it. Some days it was all he thought about.

It was too easy to just touch into the Power, to just let flow through his veins like a sweet case of ecstasy. It was a curse, more than anything. A bittersweet curse disguised as a blessing. A promise of something that was never truly reachable.

After a long time of walking, he looked up to find himself a more than a bit lost. The fog sure wasn't helping either.

He sighed.

"It's going to be a long night," he said aloud to no one in particular.

"Hey, Garwin!" he heard a familiar voice call to him. Aaron Abbott.

"_And_ only getting _longer_," he complained to the sky. Aaron drove slowly alongside of Reid in his white Tundra, hanging out the window like he was calling to a hooker.

"Look what _I_ found!" he boasted with boyish excitement.

Reid turned to face the obnoxious bully, who deliberately antagonized him and the other Sons because he was insanely jealous of them. His mere presence made Reid's fists clench and body tense up.

"Look, Abbott," Reid said through his teeth. "It's late, I'm tired, I'm already feeling a hangover and I'm in a hell of a bad mood. Scamper off with your little friends and play the dick somewhere else."

Reid waved them off, letting them know that the conversation was over.

"Oh, I _intend_ to," Aaron slurred to Reid's back. Aaron was quite obviously so drunk that he wouldn't remember anything in the morning. His eyes were glazed over as if ready to pass out at any moment, and he drove in a zigzagged fashion.

"I'm going to play my dick right up _her_…!" he finished.

That's when Reid stopped in his tracks. He heard a moan from a female voice come from the backseat, and walked to the car slowly, suspecting what he might see next but hoping to God he was wrong. The sight came slow, as Reid came up very gradually, his eyes echoing his dread. Reid let his eyes fall to Aaron's friends sitting behind him, and saw the woman held in their arms, a thin woman with long legs and wavy mahogany hair.

"Was just being friendly," Abbott said innocently, though his tone was taunting. "I just wanted to know if you'd like a piece of her too!"

She looked like she was almost unconscious, phased out for an unknown reason. He could only assume that Abbott had done something to her—perhaps gave her a drugged drink of some kind… or a date rape pill… Then offered to drive her home from the bar…

Reid's whole body swelled into anger, his eyes falling dark and beads of sweat beginning to form on his brow. He was _mad_, and the more Abbott spoke the angrier he became.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to _answer_ me?" Aaron called. "I can only be generous for so long… I'll tell you what--"

Aaron looked at Reid with a drunken grin.

"--I'll even let you go second… after me, of course."

With that Reid's hands each launched balls of slimy energy at Aaron's car, making two holes in his side door. Too easy.

"Like hell, you will," Reid said, yanking Aaron through the window and slamming him on the asphalt. "You do and you lose it, you hear me?"

When Aaron tried to get up, Reid smashed him down again with more of the Power.

"Stay down, now," Reid said. "You don't want to tempt me like that, trust me."

Aaron looked up to his attacker with terror all over his face, sighting Reid's pitch black eyes for the first time.

"What… _are_ you?" Aaron stammered through his fear.

Reid kicked him in the ribs, hard, making Aaron curl up into a ball in pain.

"Seriously pissed off," Reid replied, then spat on the jerk's face. He then turned back to the truck, easily pulling the back door off as well. He grabbed the one in his way and threw him next to Aaron, the grabbed Elle away from the other, who seemed too scared to even think about protesting.

"Elle, can you hear me?" Reid asked, sitting her up in the seat.

She moaned and stirred.

"What?" she mumbled. "Reid, is that you?"

"_No_, its Santa Claus here to give you a Christmas wish," Reid said sarcastically. "Com'on, let's get you out of here."

As he reached to pick her up, his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He sighed, and checked the caller ID, though he already knew who it was. He pressed the button to accept it and put it to his ear.

"Kinda busy, Caleb," he said with irritation.

"I _noticed_," Caleb said from the other end. "I just felt you Use… A LOT. What the hell are you doing?"

"Whoops," Reid said mockingly. "Did you miss your 'Anals Anonymous' support group meeting again?"

"I'm serious, Reid," Caleb countered. "You don't understand—Pogue, he…"

"Ahh," Reid interrupted, putting a hand on his suddenly pounding head.

"What's wrong?" Caleb asked.

"My head…" Reid struggled to say. "Ahh-- It hurts!"

"Oh, my God," Caleb droned. "Reid… listen: if there's anyone near you— you need to run!"

"What?" Reid asked with confusion. "Why--?"

"_Now_, Reid!" Caleb insisted.

"But--"

"_RUN_, GODDAMMIT!" Caleb shouted.

Reid took one glance at Elle, then high-tailed it down the road as fast as his legs would carry him.

Suddenly he stopped, the pulsing pain in his head too much to force it to command his body to do anything more. Reid called out in pain, clenching his temples and falling to his knees. It was like something inside wanted to burst through his skull. He couldn't fight it— Couldn't hold it in--

Suddenly an explosion of energy burst out of him, making him erupt like a human bomb. Small trees fell like a tornado had blown them over. Cars parked on the street flew straight up into the air, only to come crashing down, alarms blazing, making people inside the surrounding houses turn on their lights. The asphalt under him crumbled into a trench like he had dug his own grave.

Elle was sitting up in the distance, looking straight at him with surprise and confusion.

He knew then that he was in some seriously deep shit.

**-**

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**

**PS. **Songs that are cool and could be fitting to the story: **"_Alive with the Glory of Love"_ **by **Say Anything, **and"**_Too Little, Too Late_**" by **JoJo… **Good songs-- check them out.


	6. Chapter 6: The Silence Broken

**Chapter 6:**

-

Reid scrambled to his feet and raced down the road, running as fast as he could away from the scene of the crime, and before any of the residents of the stirring houses would notice that he was the one who had done this.

Even he was confused as to what at happened… as he explained to the Tyler and Caleb back at the Danvers Estate.

"I was completely fine, I swear," he assured Caleb. "One minutes I was using fine and then-- well, _you_ heard me!"

"That's exactly how Pogue described what happened to him," Tyler explained.

"We'll tell you what we told him," Caleb said very seriously. "No more Using. At all. I mean, straight up, cold turkey. This has become entirely too risky."

"Yeah, no shit," Reid mumbled. Caleb looked at him with that one look he loved to give him, one that said he was wondering whether he dared to ask or not, because he feared the answer, but he knew he must, especially when it came to Reid. He sighed quite loudly, and then asked the dreaded question.

"Did anyone see you when you lost it, Reid?"

"Oh, what does it matter?" Reid challenged lamely. "Aaron and his boys were way too drunk to remember anything."

"Why were you Using on Aaron and his lackies?" Tyler asked.

"Besides the obvious, that is," Caleb added on.

"No reason besides they deserved it," Reid lied naturally in his usual illusory way. He thought it better to keep the fact that he had been protecting Elle to himself for now, in case he made Tyler freak about it.

"Are you sure about that?" Caleb pressed, notably not convinced.

Reid looked at Caleb like he couldn't believe he was asking him the same question twice. Just like Caleb had that time when all along it had really been Chase Using, not him.

"_Yes_, I'm sure," Reid said, making sure Caleb knew this was _not_ something to push any further.

Truthfully, if it had been just Caleb standing over him asking the question, or even Pogue, he would have told the truth. But the fact that his competition was standing right there next to him made him reluctant to do so.

Caleb's cell phone rang then, and he turned away from them to answer it.

"Hey, Sarah. What's u--" he stopped in mid-sentence, as if she had cut him off. He listened intently for a moment, then his gaze fell on Reid.

"What?" Reid asked innocently.

"Thanks for the heads-up," Caleb said to his phone, then ended the call and went to the nearby television. Reid's heart began to thumb nervously as Caleb flipped the channels. He had a feeling Caleb wasn't looking for his favorite late night show right about now.

He stopped on the news, which confirmed to Reid that this was not good for him. The screen showed the street he had been on last night, complete with the gaping hole and overthrown trees and cars. A newswoman was reporting it with intensity, talking quickly and clearly.

"—_large rounded hole, as you can see here. This mysterious bomb appears to be the cause of a severe nearby accident involving drunken teenagers, who were the explosion's sole witnesses. They were found thrown from their cars just near where the explosion occurred. Their recollection of the events were hazy, but none hazier than the seemingly drugged girl who was found among them._"

Elle next appeared on the screen, her eyes droopy and she was holding her head as if fully bewildered. A doctor was nearby, checking her over for her well-being.

"God!" Tyler exclaimed. "That's Elle!"

"I can _see_ that, Tyler," Caleb told him coldly, distress evident in his voice, but his eyes glued to the TV.

"_Police claim the girl was given an unidentified 'date rape' drug, and have taken the three boys into custody. As for the explosion, state law enforcement assures us that it is not in any way a terrorist attack or of a related nature._"

Next the screen showed a slim cop, who took them over to Aaron's thrashed white Tundra, and pointed to several odd dents.

"_I've never seen an explosion that punches baseball sized dents into only one side of the vehicle,_" the cop explained. "_Or that tore off the side door to the _backseat_, and not the front or any others that would seem more plausible. As soon as those boys get sober, we hope to get to the bottom of this._"

The newswoman appeared again.

"_The police promise worried local residents that they will surely give us more information soon, but as for now, the Old Fir Road has been currently blocked off until further notice_."

Caleb's fists were clenched by now, his shoulders raised with extreme tension. He turned to Reid as if holding back from exploding himself. Tyler didn't appear much different, but he had much less guts to confront Reid himself, but rather stood near to Caleb in support of whatever he was about to say.

"So they got their shorts in a bunch, big deal," Reid defended before Caleb even spoke. "They don't know where it actually _came_ from, and they never will. Like I said, Aaron's boys were too drunk--"

"AND WHAT IF THEY _AREN'T_, REID?" Caleb shouted. "WHAT THEN, HUH?"

"She was in _trouble_, you moron! I couldn't just--"

Caleb's voice lowered darkly and he went on like he didn't even hear Reid.

"I'll _tell_ you what then," he said. "The Covenant will be over. Three hundred years of silence will be undone and you did it ALL FOR A _GIRL_?"

"What, you think I _planned_ this?" Reid said, getting in Caleb's face.

"I do," Tyler spoke up for the first time in that conversation. "I never thought you would stoop this low, Reid."

"What the hell are you blabbering about, Tyler?" Reid insisted. Where Tyler would normally recoil when Reid used that tone of voice with him, today Tyler would not.

"You went off with Abbott's boys, got blazing drunk, used your powers to drug Elle, then booked it to find a place to gang bang her."

"That's an awful lot of assumptions there, Tyler," Reid said, going in Tyler's face next. "You prepared to back that up, baby boy?"

"I believe him, Tyler," Caleb said reluctantly to the youngest of the Sons.

Both Reid and Tyler turned to Caleb with surprise.

"_What_?" they said in unison.

"There wouldn't be dents in the truck like that if he wasn't fighting with Abbott," Caleb admitted wisely. "I think he really was trying to help Elle."

"Believe me," Reid said to Tyler. "I wouldn't need the almighty _Power_ to get in Elle's pants, Sims."

"That's bullshit," Tyler said with a violent shove, pushing Reid away from him with disgust. Caleb was immediately between them, facing Reid before he shoved Tyler back.

"Hey," he warned to calm him down. "Cut it out, you guys."

Caleb had not seen so much courage or passion in Tyler before; especially against the Covenant brother he feared and respected the most. Caleb understood then, that this girl must mean a great deal to him. As for Reid, he wasn't entirely convinced that his intentions with Elle were pure, since usually when it came to girls he would screw them, and screw them over. It was why he had developed such a bad reputation with the girls around the dorms, so Reid hadn't gotten a girl from Spenser since Junior year. They had this inclination that anyone who slept with Reid would get the rep of a common slut.

"Guys, we all need to get some sleep," Caleb said with a sigh of frustration. "We have classes in the morning. We'll finish this when Pogue gets out tomorrow."

-

Elle watched as the doctor looked her over in the actual office, as the police had ordered to identify the date drug. The doctor sighed after each test he ran, then he would ask more questions, and go away and then come back again and do the same thing over again.

"I'm sorry," he said at last to her. "I've done everything I possibly could, but you have no signs of any drug in you, my dear. You are completely clean."

"What?" Elle said with surprise. "How can that be?"

"I agree, it's extremely odd, my dear," he replied. "I'll let you know as soon as I get the other test results in."

She nodded and hopped of the pleather examination bed still feeling slightly woozy from the night's events. How could she not have been drugged? She felt like she had just gone to La La Land and back, and awakened solely by a voice…

As Elle exited the hospital building to seek out her car in the parking complex, she began to remember that voice… she had recognized the voice…

Then she remembered a glowing figure with golden hair, eyes as dark as night staring over her like a guardian angel with the eyes of a demon.

She stopped in the middle of the dark parking complex, keys in one hand, the other to her forehead.

"_Reid_?" she wondered aloud.

**-**

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	7. Chapter 7: The Bet

**Chapter 7:**

-

As Pogue stepped into the classroom two days later, he saw immediately that all eyes were on him. It seemed every student was thinking the same thing… that this was the troubled kid, the bad news boy, the guy who had come straight out of jail. They had all seen the cop cars, and the ambulance, and the police taking him away.

He straightened his uniform and glared right back as a telltale sign that he didn't give a damn what they thought about him, and sat down next to Caleb and Sarah, slamming his book bag on the table loudly.

"Hey," Pogue said, disregarding the other students and turning his attention to Caleb as they waited for the teacher to show. "Tyler filled me in on all the gory details about Reid. Tyler seems pretty pissed."

"I'd hate to be in Reid's shoes," Sarah said. "I'd never sleep. They're still sharing a dorm together, huh?"

Caleb snickered.

"Naw, Tyler's sleeping over at my house for now. You're right about him being pissed at Reid, Pogue. I've never seen him this way before."

"She must be _some_ girl…" Sarah said, then gestured to the door as Elle followed a group of students just entering the classroom. "You think she remembers anything from last night?"

"I'm having Reid keep an eye on her and me posted for any unusual behavior towards him, or otherwise."

"Tyler won't appreciate that you ordered 'big bad Reid' to follow his girl around," Pogue commented.

"Yeah, no kidding," Caleb agreed. "But it's our best bet."

Pogue and Caleb watched Tyler pull out a straw and Used to shoot a spitwad extra hard to the back of Reid's head, who sat several rows below him. Reid must've sensed it coming, because fast as lightning he reached behind his head and caught the ball of wet paper in midair before it hit him, then turned around to glare at Tyler with threatening eyes. He shook his head to the younger boy, warning him not to mess with him.

"Good morning, students," said an older blond woman who entered the room with a briefcase. She had a sour face and starched clothes, and stood tall and thin like a young tree. She straightened her glasses and looked up at the children like every one of them were suspicious troublemakers.

"As you can tell, I am not Mr. Bishop. My name is Ms. Smith or ma'am. Sadly, Mr. Bishop will not be joining us today, because of a family emergency, but he left me very detailed instructions to follow until his return. Please pull out your books and turn to page five hundred and eighty-eight."

Caleb and Pogue glanced at one another with confusion.

"Why could _Elle_ show up to class today, but not her _father_?" Caleb said with suspicion.

"We should leave it up to Reid to find out," Pogue said silently. "I'm going to the Pentagram tonight to look up some things in the book. There has to be a record of this 'Power explosion' thing happening _some_where in history."

"I'll go with you," Caleb promised. "I'll have a look at the other books, just in case--"

_WHACK_!

Caleb, Pogue, and Sarah all jumped in surprise at the teacher's pointer swatting the desk space in-between Pogue and Caleb.

"I surely wish that you were this intent on reading the books at _hand_," Miss Smith said through her teeth. "_Economics_, page _five hundred _and eighty_-eight_."

Pogue and Caleb exchanged looks and obeyed. No other student dared talk after that, for the intimidating presence the teacher had aroused.

-

Reid followed Caleb's instructions carefully, stalking Elle like an international spy, hanging around corners, watching the classes she went to and from. Thankfully, his skills were so great that she never saw him once, from what he could tell. It went on for days, and soon Reid found that he was enjoying watching her between the shelves of the library, or scratching intently away in her little brown notebook out on the quad. She looked graceful in whatever she was doing, even actions as simple as sitting to eat or walking down a hall. Perhaps Reid was beginning to enjoy it a little _too_ much.

Reid grabbed his lunch from the line, feeling tired after a particularly vexing final on chemistry, and headed through the maze of tables toward where his friends sat. Tyler saw him coming, and quickly put his book bag down on the empty seat with a strong hint.

"There's no room at this table, Garwin," he snapped, glaring his way.

"_Tyler_…" Caleb scolded.

Reid glared right back at Tyler, his hands slowly clenching Tyler's lunch tray.

"Reid," Caleb said quickly. "Don't…"

Suddenly Tyler's plate was launched into his face, getting macaroni and cheese all over his eyes and hair.

"Whoops," Reid said cynically, throwing the tray back on the table. "You should be more careful."

Tyler was suddenly on his feet, but Caleb grabbed him by his jacket sleeve and dragged him back down.

"Guys, com'on," Caleb begged. "You're acting like bratty little kids."

Tyler shook his arm out of Caleb's hold, grabbed his bag and stormed off to the bathrooms to wipe off his dirty face.

"Don't cry _too_ much, baby boy," Reid taunted to his back. Tyler stopped, then seemed to talk himself out of whatever he had been thinking, and marched even more determinedly off.

"You shouldn't bag on him like that," Pogue told Reid.

"Yeah," Caleb agreed. "He's just under the impression you were going to take advantage of Elle instead of trying to save her. He'll come around."

"Like I care," Reid insisted.

It was then Reid spotted the girl in question scanning the tables for a place to sit. She quickly found a spot at an empty table, seemingly intent on studying rather than socializing. Caleb spotted a good place for a change of subject and pounced on it.

"Have you been watching her like I told you?"

"It's only lunch period, Caleb, geez," Reid said.

"_And_?" Caleb pressed.

"Do you see that?" Reid pointed over to her lonely self. "That's what she does. _All_ the time. When's she's not reading books, she in the library getting more. That's it."

"What does she read?" Pogue asked.

"To hell if _I_ know."

"Find out," Caleb commanded.

"Speaking of hot girls," Pogue said, quickly sitting up as high as he could to scan the cafeteria. "Have any of you seen Kate?"

"She's back at the dorm cramming," Sarah explained. "We have an English final tomorrow and she completely forgot about it."

"Hey guys," a perky female voice said very suddenly. The boys looked up to see Kira before them. She was speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world, like they were old friends, when in all actuality, each and every one of the people sitting at the table hated her guts, Sarah included.

"Hey, Kira…?" Pogue was the first to find words.

Kira, like Aaron, came with her own set of lackeys, the most common being Sherry Rictor, who rarely spoke but remained forever glued to her side, probably hording in on Kira's popularity at the cost of their slavery to Kira.

Reid had considered Kira at times, but there was something about how easy she was that got rid of the thrill of the chase. There was no challenge involved, and it was a major turn-off. And, not to mention, she had never asked it of him. Reid imagined that if ever given the opportunity, he probably would go for her anyway, since the 'candy was free', and who was he to turn down a physical relationship with no strings attached? He was only a man, after all. Though, so far, her sights had never fallen on him, so that prospect hadn't been truly confirmed.

He also knew Kira was just after each and every one of the Covenant boys out of some strange obsession, like lifetime goal, and so far she had only managed to snatch up half of them as her conquests. Tyler was stupid enough to fall for her sweet talk, and Caleb was stupid enough to fall for her. It was back in freshman year, so his naivety was excusable. He had soon found out she was cheating on him (no surprise there), and he never called her again. So whenever she came around, things tensed up quite quickly.

"Hey, listen," Kira went on cheerily. "I'm having this huge end-of-the-year party down at the lake house tonight… is anyone interested?"

"Gets a little lonely without Aaron, doesn't it, Kira?" Sarah retorted harshly in an equally cheery voice. "Just don't go barking up Caleb's tree, K?"

Kira smirked evilly back.

"Been there, _done_ that…" she said with double meaning. "F.Y.I., Aaron is _so_ yesterday's news. I was just wondering if you guys felt like having a little fun, for once. _Everyone's_ going to be there. When the parents are away… the kids can play, right?"

Sherry giggled behind her.

"Just give it a think… I'll be waiting for you…"

At last, she turned to go.

"Bye, Reid," Kira said with an obnoxious wave using all of her fingers. Reid grinned with a polite smile only skin deep, and let it fade as soon as she turned her back.

"Ho-bag," Reid muttered.

"Watch out-- Looks like she's after you next, Reid," Pogue teased.

Reid shook his head with abhorrence to the entire ordeal, and looked over to Elle's table once more to ease his aching eyes.

"Think _Elle _will go with me?" he asked his friends. Caleb and Pogue glanced over to make sure they knew whom he was speaking of, then said together very assuredly:

"No."

"I'll _bet_ you," Reid insisted. "I'll bet you I can get her to say yes."

"No way," Pogue said with a smile at the thought of easy money. "I'll take that bet."

"Oh, don't encourage him," Caleb complained, then looked at his friends and quickly saw that they weren't going to let up.

"Fine," Caleb said, slapping down his money as well. "To hell with it… I'll add in twenty more that says she'd rather eat her own _liver_."

"How mean!" Sarah said, smacking Caleb on the shoulder. "Reid's an attractive guy—"

She quickly turned to Reid with an encouraging smile.

"--_I_ have faith in you, Reid."

"Thank you!" Reid said, grateful and flattered.

Suddenly another hand came out of nowhere, slamming a twenty on the table very loudly.

"Let's say we make it interesting," Tyler said, his face now clean and his clothes with wets spots where he had wiped off the food residue. He stared at Reid with an unwavering stare.

"If you win," he said boldly. "You get Elle as a date and some extra spending cash, and the car for the party tomorrow."

Reid looked down at the money on the table, which was now up to a considerable sum.

"And when _you_ lose?" Reid said.

"Loser backs off from Elle for good, _and_ has to take _Kira_ to the party instead."

"Shouldn't that be _Elle's_ decision?" Sarah piped up, but Pogue promptly shushed her, waiting for what Reid would answer to Tyler's challenge.

Reid stood up straight and his eyes narrowed confidently. A smug look was on his face, more than a little certain that Elle was as good as his.

"You're _on_," he replied with a cocky smirk.

**-**

**  
Who's going to win::bites nails::… Wait, what am _I_ worried about? I already _know_… Anyway, please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	8. Chapter 8: The Brown Book

**Chapter 8:**

-

Reid proudly trotted off to win the bet, _and_ the date agreement of the woman sitting alone at a lunch table, and left his disbelieving friends behind. He looked back once to smile back at their smirking faces, letting his ecstatic face tell them he was still just as confident as ever.

"Hey guys," Kate said, finally joining them for lunch and setting her tray in Reid's old seat next to Pogue. "Where's Reid off to?"

"He has a bet with Tyler," Pogue said, barely keeping from laughing out loud, though Caleb wasn't having as much success. Both boys' eyes were unwaveringly glued to their doomed blond friend. "Reid's going to get verbally bashed by that chick again."

"He's _so_ going to get dissed," Caleb confirmed with a nod.

Tyler seemed quite pleased with himself, feeling very self-assured to the fact that they spoke truth, and was glad they were all in agreement about it.

They watched Reid go to Elle with a resolute stride, then stop before her table with that devious smile he couldn't help but do. The three others he left behind leaned in to be sure to catch every word…

-

"Hey there," Reid said when Elle didn't notice him standing before her. She looked up with surprise.

"Oh… um… Hi?" she replied with confusion. Reid sat down on the other side of the table.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked good-naturedly. She looked at him like he had just told her he was a gay alien bloodsucker.

"History…?"

"That's cool," he said with a nod. "Where was your dad today?"

Elle frowned, unable to get a grasp on the reason this man was sitting before her.

"Upstate… his mother's sick."

"Oh," Reid said with a sympathetic look. "Sorry to hear it…"

"I'm sorry-- Does this petty exchange serve a _purpose_?" she asked, her bewilderment very obvious in her voice. It didn't seem to bother him at all.

"Yeah, listen," he said with a winning grin. "There's this party tomorrow at--"

"Wait, wait," she interrupted, then began to chuckle in disbelief. "Are you going to ask me _out_?"

That's when Reid's cool began to waver.

"The thought had crossed my mind…"

They sat for a moment in silence, as she stared at him with complete bafflement, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

"Tell me, Reid," she said at last. "What makes you think that there is even the _slightest_ chance in _hell_ that I would go out with you?"

"Whoa!" Reid said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Chill out, stress fest—it's just a party."

"Grow up, Reid," Elle snapped, standing up and gathering all her books together and stuffing them in her bag. Reid got up and tried to help her, but she flicked his had away.

"Com'on," Reid coaxed. "_You've_ changed—so why can't you accept that maybe _I_ have too?"

"Oh, good line. Did you think that up all by yourself?"

"Can you believe I _did_? I have more—but it's hard to remember them all. _Sometimes_ I use notes."

She fought hard to hold back a smile at his joke, and it worked. She gave him a skeptical _look_ instead.

"I mean it though," Reid said assuredly, taking a step closer to her. "Give me a chance to prove it. Just one. Go to the party with me, at least…"

He took her hand in his, and she didn't pull away. In fact, she seemed rather flushed by it. She was silent for many moments, staring at his hand holding hers like she couldn't believe that it was there. Reid wasn't sure if this was good or bad, but he found out soon enough.

"You're incorrigible," she said with a shake of her head and raised eyebrows. She yanked her hand out of his. "_Damn_ you! You don't fool me with that cute little smile of yours or that little 'begging' thing that you do. You are the biggest, most selfish BASTARD that I have _ever_ met. Do you think I'm _stupid_? Don't you think I know that you're only here because you had some sort of bet going with your friends?"

"Wow," Reid said, his eyebrows shooting up with surprise. "News travels fast."

"I _saw_ you, you idiot. And you can tell your little group that you just lost… in more ways than one."

With that she splashed her drink in his face and stalked off. Reid wiped the red liquid off his eyes, still stunned.

"So that's a 'no'?" Reid called after her with a frown, hoping for that one last chance to make her agree.

"That's a _hell_ no," she replied on her way out the cafeteria door.

-

"Bet against wannabe ladies man in date wager," Pogue muttered as they saw Reid crash and burn. "Twenty dollars each."

"_Lending_ said ladies man Winterfresh gum to freshen breath and better his chances," Caleb added. "Twenty-five cents."

"Watching Reid get undeniably dissed by the hot girl… _again_…" Tyler said last.

All three of the boys looked at each other and grinned broadly.

"Priceless!"

-

Reid's chest caved in to the fact that Elle had completely and utterly rejected him, and there was no way to get her to say yes. Ever. He stood in paralyzing shock, staring at the door in which Elle had just left, wondering how… why… what had just happened? If someone had told him three years ago that he would be standing alone in the middle of a crowded cafeteria suffering heartache for 'Smelly Ellie', he would have laughed at them and told them to stop smoking whatever crack they were on.

Now those people would have all the rights in the world to laugh at _him_. He would've kicked himself, if it would do him any good.

But the truth was, insult had already been added to complete injury, and Reid was reminded of this when Kira passed by with Sherry, giving him another one of those finger waves before she left the cafeteria. He was _definitely_ her new choice in Ipswich victim.

Reid didn't dare go back to his Covenant brothers back at the table, for he knew he would only be asking to be teased relentlessly if he did. He looked to the ground, hanging his head in defeat.

It was the only way he would have seen it.

A book, lying on the floor, probably dropped by Elle in her hurry to get away from him. It was a simple little leather notebook, no doubt containing school-related scribblings. It was the very same brown leather notebook that he always saw her scratching away in at the library.

Reid's curiosity overcame his better judgment, and he bent down to pick it up, and flipped through inside.

His eyes grew wide at what he found.

He immediately turned back and weaved his way around the tables, heading back for the others, but they were already on their way out the door of the mess hall and down the corridors of the school. As soon as Reid caught up, the snide remarks poured out.

"Well, look who's back," Pogue said with a smile. "After a display like that, I was sure you'd never show your face around here _again_."

"Shut up and listen--" Reid commanded, pulling out the book, trying to get them to see.

"What's the matter, Reid?" Tyler said as he flauntingly counted his winnings. "I think you and Kira make a _cute_ couple!"

"I said shut _UP_!" Reid snapped. He looked around for teachers scouting the halls, and when he saw it safe, he shoved everyone into a dark, empty classroom, Sarah and all.

"_Look_ at this!" Reid commanded, holding up the book for them to see.

"If that's your notes of despair at how the world hates you, I'm not interested," Tyler scoffed.

Caleb, as usual, became the only one of reason, peering over Tyler's shoulder to look at the notebook, concern expressed on his face. Sarah joined him.

"Who's is that?" Sarah was the first to ask.

"It's _Elle's_," Reid replied promptly.

Caleb's eyes suddenly went wide as well, as soon as his gaze had fallen on a few words.

"Oh, my God, it's _all_ of us!"

Reid sighed in frustration. When they saw that Caleb was alarmed, the others faces fell to the same expression of unease.

"That's what I've been trying to _tell_ you, you dumbasses!" Reid insisted. "_Now_ will you shut _up_?!"

Reid turned the book around so that he could read it aloud.

"Listen to this: '_Orville Garwin, 1872, became curiosity of the old west when he felled an entire field of buffalo with a single revolver. Bernard Garwin, 1960, became first person to earn a lifetime ban in Las Vegas after he beat the Arabesque Casino out of then record of 12 million dollars in a single night. Peleg Parry, 'miraculously' caused a British war fleet to run aground in Boston Harbor, saving the city._ _Percival Parry, hired by Theodore Roosevelt to scout initial route for Panama Canal. Curiously the sole survivor of the doomed expedition.'_"

Reid stopped and looked at his friends seriously.

"She goes onto Caleb and Tyler too. There's pages and pages of it. Timelines, family trees…"

"She's reading up on _us_," Tyler said, stating the obvious again as he liked to do.

"Here's the clincher," Reid said. "'_The Chronicles of Paganism, published in Boston. Author dies from an intense case of the pox. During the same year, the four remaining founding families of Ipswich achieve great wealth.'_"

He lowered the book to look them all in the eyes.

"She's _onto_ us, guys. She's found out _everything_."

"Gee, and I wonder _how_ she found out?" Caleb said with anger sarcasm.

Reid glared right back but didn't defend himself.

"What do we do?" Pogue asked.

"We have to talk to her," Caleb said. "We need to talk to her before she goes to the cops."

"Tomorrow," Tyler piped up. "When I pick her up for the party. I'll talk to her myself beforehand."

"Alright," Caleb agreed with a heavy sigh. "Let's hope to God she hasn't exposed us to someone already."

**-**

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**

**PS. All facts and information of the Sons's history taken from the Covenant Official Site.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Party

**A character concept picture for Elle is now up on my concept page. Just visit my profile and click on my 'homepage' to see, and even comment, if you so desire. BE WARNED: There are some more suggestive themes going on.  
_Read on_:**

**-**

**Chapter 9:**

-

That night, Caleb and Pogue sifted through the ancient books down at their place of meeting: the Pentagram. Thus far, their search for what was making their powers act this way had not been successful.

"It just doesn't make any sense," Caleb said in frustration as he flipped through yet another book. "There's no record of this _ever_ happening before?"

"Whatever it is, we can rule out that is has something to do with Ascension," Pogue said. "Because it's happened to both Reid _and_ me. That eliminates all the books on that shelf, at least."

Caleb sighed, and leaned his weight on both hands against the fiery table, as if very reluctant to throw out his next theory.

"What if it's some sort of spell?" he said unwillingly. "What if Chase'd had the last laugh after all?"

"Or what if he's doing this while he's still alive?" Pogue countered. "Postmortem curses are highly unlikely, Caleb, you know that."

"He can't be alive," Caleb said, shaking his head resolutely. "No one could survive that last blow I gave him."

"Could _you_?" Pogue challenged. Caleb knew what he was trying to say: that Chase had the same amount of power as Caleb, so if Caleb thought he could survive it, why couldn't Chase? It was a good point, so good it made Caleb sigh in defeat.

"If he's alive, why hasn't he shown himself?"

"Biding his time," Pogue replied smoothly. "Waiting for this curse to get the better of us—who knows? But we have to expect him being out there, Caleb. We have to take the necessary… precautions."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Kate is already taken care of," Pogue said, counting off the fingers on his hand. "Since she's living with me now," --he couldn't help but smile broadly in pride when he said that-- "And your mom is fine with you. What about Sarah?"

"Until she finds a roommate she'll have to stay with me and Tyler at my house too," Caleb said with a nod. "Mom trusts me; she'll let her stay in a guest room."

"What about Tyler's girl? Elle?"

"Chase hasn't met her before," Caleb argued. "He wouldn't go after her, I don't think. I'll have Tyler keep tabs on her, just in case."

"If you say so," Pogue agreed, then grabbed his jacket to leave. "I'm going to go get ready for the party tonight. You going?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting Sarah there," Caleb said. "I wouldn't want to miss Reid's date with _Kira_, either."

Pogue laughed.

"That's _definitely_ going to be a highlight of my night."

"Yeah," Caleb agreed, chuckling at the thought as well. "Isn't Karma _great_?"

-

Tyler pulled up to Elle's house in his hummer, and stopped for a mirror check before he stepped out.

Before he could go to her door to ring the bell, she was already on her way out, wearing a tight pair of charcoal straight-leg jeans, a dark tank top and an oversized white beaded necklace. The clothes brought out her every curve, so much that it was hard to ignore. Tyler tried his best not to stare. He simply smiled at her broadly, though nervously, knowing what task laid before him in the near future.

"Hi!" she said like nothing was wrong in the world, and walked over to his car with a preset mind. "Sorry I'm such a mess… I've been packing all day. I'm lucky to have rounded up a decent outfit for tonight, really…"

"You look—you look great," Tyler stammered. How was he ever going to confront her?

"Why were you packing?" he asked worriedly. "You're not running _away_ from something, are you? Or maybe some_one_?"

She laughed.

"No, nothing that exciting, I'm afraid," she admitted. "I'm just packing so when I find a decent roommate I can move right away into the dorms for the rest of the school year. With my dad gone, he refuses to let me stay in an empty house… not since what happened…."

Tyler nodded understandingly.

"Anyway, how he expects me to find a roommate this late in the year—I do not know."

He opened the door for her politely, and she hopped right in.

Tyler jogged around the front of the vehicle and got in the drivers seat, but sat still for a moment, trying to decide on the right words to say. Elle frowned at him with confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern.

Tyler looked at Elle and opened his mouth, but nothing would come out. He had practiced the entire way over, but those rehearsed words now refused to be spoken.

"I like you," he said instead. He could have kicked himself at how stupid it sounded.

Elle looked back at him fondly.

"I know…" she replied with a warm smile.

Tyler remained silent and frozen stiff, and she twiddled her thumbs and looked out the window anxiously.

"So are we going to go?" she asked with wonder.

"Oh!" Tyler said, breaking out of the hindrance in his brain and turning on the ignition. "Right, yeah…"

"Tyler," she said, putting a hand on his arm, making him fall paralyzed once more. "It's okay."

She said it with such deep meaning behind it, such full and comforting understanding, that it calmed Tyler immediately.

"Really?" he said to be sure. "You mean about--"

She put a finger to his lips and shushed him.

"It's okay," she repeated. "I rather not know for sure, but even if it is true, it's okay."

Tyler stared at her as she slowly released his lips from her finger's hold. He smiled at her lovingly and sighed in relief.

"Well, alright then," he said happily, and proceeded to put his hummer in gear.

-

Since Kira herself was holding the party, Reid thankfully didn't have to go and pick her up and suffer the few moments of alone time driving there. He was ready to shoot himself as it was, and was thankful for small favors.

He found Caleb, Sarah, Pogue, and Kate quickly in the midst of the party, going just where he expected to find them: out on the patio overlooking the lake. It was a wonderful little balcony, and the moon was full enough to provide a useful light, reflecting off the lake beautifully and giving everything a soft glow. Sarah especially, looked wonderful under the moonlight. Reid frowned at how pretty she looked, that old feeling of longing he once bore for her creeping in on him again. She really _was_ a good-looking girl…

"Hey, Reid," Pogue said, slapping his hand and ritually pulling him close to bump shoulders in greeting. "When'd you fly in?"

"Just now," Reid replied casually, doing the same with Caleb and tipping an invisible hat to the girls. "Tyler come yet?"

"Naw," Caleb said, shaking his head sadly. "He'll give us the report when he gets here, don't worry about it."

Pogue laughed and playfully tugged on Caleb to get his attention.

"Something tells me that's _not_ what Reid is worried about."

This immediately set Reid off and he got in his friend's face.

"Keep it up and I'll give _you_ something to worry about," Reid challenged.

"Cut it out, Reid, he's just yanking your chain," Caleb refereed once again.

Kate hit her boyfriend on the shoulder threateningly.

"What?" Pogue asked with confusion.

"You behave!" she commanded with a sternness only skin deep.

"Anything for you, babe," Pogue replied happily, leaning to kiss her. Reid rolled his eyes, thinking of nothing worse than staring at Pogue's disgusting display.

"Have any of you guys seen Reid?" Kira said loudly to her friends from behind him.

Reid winced at the sound of her voice.

Oh, yeah… _that_ was worse…

"Looks like your date is looking for you," Caleb said with a smile. Reid knew what was coming next and pleaded with his friend against it.

"_Caleb_, you had better not--"

"—Hey, Kira!" Caleb called to get her attention, then started waving her over to them.

"--No, don't--!" Reid tried desperately.

"--Look who _I_ found!" Caleb said, ignoring him completely. Pogue turned Reid around and shoved him Kira's way.

"Have _fun_!" he teased.

Soon Reid found himself bombarded by Kira and her squealing girlfriends, much to the amusement of his _own_ friends, to whom he shot the 'finger' behind his back. His displeasure only seemed to amuse them all the more. Reid gritted his teeth every time Kira opened her mouth, and his body fell tense at her every touch.

"Hey you," Kira crooned, trailing her fingers along his shirt. "You're _late_."

"Well, I can't imagine why," Reid said, his voice dripping with disdain. "You know how I just can't _wait_ to see you…"

Pogue snickered, but Kira didn't seem to catch the sarcasm.

"Aww, isn't he sweet, girls?" Kira boasted to her friends, then began to tug on Reid's arm. "Com'on, you have to dance with me."

"No, I don't," Reid countered firmly. Dancing would give Kira all the excuse she needed to grind up on him—and he didn't need that sort of temptation right now… not from her. He'd never live it down.

"Reid," Caleb urged almost tauntingly. "She wants to dance… Dance with the girl."

Reid shot him a threatening glare, warning him against interfering again.

"I don't dance," he growled to Caleb through his teeth.

"That's okay," Kira said, leaning close to Reid to whisper in his ear. "There are other things we can do… like I can take you upstairs… and show you my room…"

Reid looked at Kira in stunned silence, blinking back the surprise on his otherwise blank expression. After a moment or so, he sighed and reluctantly muttered:

"You wanna dance?"

"_Oh_..." Kira said with a knowing smile. "I'd _love_ to."

Caleb laughed as Kira led Reid away, then turned his attention back to Sarah.

"You want something to drink?" he asked graciously. Sarah smiled, and nodded.

"Oh," she added. "But get me something sealed, like a can of soda. I think I saw someone spike the punch earlier."

"Good call," Caleb agreed, as he nuzzled Sarah in the ear with a grin. "You wouldn't want me taking advantage of you, now, would you?"

"Now, _Caleb_ _Danvers_!" she scolded playfully. "I had thought better of you. Shame… Shame on you for thinking such things…"

He smiled at her joke and left to fetch the beverages, and happened to spot Tyler making his way through the foyer with Elle attached to his hand. Tyler met Caleb's eye and smiled broadly and gave Caleb a thumbs up. Caleb shook his head in reply, relieved and a little amused, and made his way back over to where his girlfriend stood.

"Tyler's here," he told Pogue. "Looks like the Elle situation is under control."

"Well, _that's_ a relief," Pogue replied. "Otherwise we'd have to kill her."

Kate slapped him on the arm again.

"_What_?" Pogue asked in genuine confusion.

"I said _behave_," she retorted.

-

Tyler observed Elle as she drank her drink, noticing her attention was not on him. Rather, she seemed to be searching the crowd for something, or someone. Tyler frowned at this, wishing desperately he could be more entertaining to her.

"Looking for a friend?" he asked above the pulsing bass of the hard rock song. She seemed a little jumpy when he spoke, and shrugged it off quickly.

"No, just wondering who made it to the party," she replied coolly, so Tyler let it go.

-

Reid wasn't much of a dancer, but he knew enough to get by out on the floor. His lack of enthusiasm didn't help matters either, but thankfully in this kind of dancing the girls dominated, and he didn't need to do much besides hold a beat.

Kira did just as he expected of her, and danced a little too sensual for his liking, her butt grinding into his pelvis in movement to the beat. He was about to stop and make up some lame excuse for why he needed to go, if he hadn't spotted Elle coming in with Tyler off to the side of the dance crowd. He managed to catch her gaze for a moment, but she was quickly distracted by the greetings of various friends.

She was soon thrust in the midst of a group of jocks and various boys of interest, Tyler fuming a bit from having to hoard them away from his girl as best he knew how, but didn't seem to be having much success.

In hopes of aggravating some kind of jealously in Elle, Reid held Kira's rear and danced just as suggestively back, much to Kira's delight.

"Ohh," she hummed back in pleasure. "That's it. Give it to me, boy…"

But Reid could barely register her words. All he saw were the boys hanging around Elle, one rubbing her back flirtatiously, two holding beers and laughing with the rest, and Tyler with his arm around her shoulders territorially, letting them all know she belonged to _him_…

And there Elle was, in all her splendor; the overconfident, unattainable fox, surrounded by handsome men that were hanging on her every word…

And she was staring at _Reid_.

**-**

**  
Ooo… Intense, huh? Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	10. Chapter 10: The Exposure

**Chapter 10:**

-

"Hey," Tyler said, catching Elle's attention in the midst of the hectic party. "I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick. Do you think you'll be alright alone for a minute?"

"Not a problem," Elle replied good-naturedly, waving him off with a smile. "You go ahead."

Tyler didn't seem convinced, and shot a look of warning to the interested jocks standing around her.

"You' re sure you'll be okay?" Tyler asked her again.

"I'll be fine," she promised. "Meet me out on the patio when you get out."

Tyler nodded and left, but spotted Caleb and Pogue on his way over, and stopped to say hi.

"Hey, guys," he said, then his eyes fell to the girlfriends and he smiled at them in turn. "Having fun with your ladies?"

"Well, it can't be too much, seeing as we're still out in public," Pogue replied. He got another slap on the shoulder for that, but this time, both Sarah _and_ Kate were the culprits.

"Geez!" Pogue winced. "_Gang_ violence, now?"

"You deserved it," Kate laughed.

"Hey, Sarah," Tyler said. "You're actually who I came over to see."

"_Uh oh_," Caleb said with warning.

"No," Tyler raised his hands innocently. "It's not like that. Elle's looking for a roommate, so I wondered if--"

"Oh my God, that's perfect!" Sarah exclaimed. "Yeah, I'll give her a call. Do you have a number I can use?"

"Sure," Tyler said. "But I'll give it to you after I get back—I gotta pee really _really_ bad."

As Tyler trotted off, Sarah laughed, and Caleb waved to his friend's back, calling:

"Ever heard of '_too_ _much_ information', Ty?"

-

Reid took notice that Tyler had left Elle by herself and pounced on the open opportunity, abandoning Kira on the dance floor.

"Hey, Evans," Reid said to one of the jocks. They recognized Reid, and grew immediately fearful, due to prior bad experiences with him.

"Don't you have a pigskin to fetch somewhere?" Reid asked him.

"I'm… I'm sure I could… find one," Michael Evans stammered, and grabbed his friends and sauntered off. Elle frowned at Reid, who had just scared away all of her attention.

"Well, if it isn't the man-whore," she spat at him. "Come for your ritual verbal beating again, have you?"

Reid grinned suspiciously.

"Thought you could use my services," Reid replied. "You seemed a bit… crowded."

"Look who's talking," Elle countered, motioning to Kira on the dance floor, who hadn't seemed to notice yet that Reid was gone. "I see you skipped the bed and went straight to having sex right on the dance floor-- how nice."

"Be still my heart!" he said, clutching his chest in mock astonishment. "Is dear Elle _jealous_?"

"I _never_ said that," Elle insisted, offended by the very idea. "I just find your displays unbelievably _disgusting_, is all. You never cease to amaze me. I have to admit though, you and Kira seem to be perfect for each other. She's a bitch and you're an ass… A match made in heaven, wouldn't you say?"

Reid pointed his finger at her accusingly, his face falling stern and fierce.

"Hey," he said firmly. "You have _no_ right to be jealous. You diss me _openly_ on more than one occasion, and you're dating one of my best friends. How I choose to get over you is none of your business."

"Oh, you have nothing to answer to _me_, Reid," Elle agreed. "I'm not your mother. You may plow around wherever you like."

He glared at her with a cold swirl of silver coming into his eyes. He stepped up close to her, so their noses almost touched.

"Maybe what I'd _like…_ is _you_," he said in a low, almost threatening voice.

"_Huh_?" she blinked in alarm. She hadn't anticipated that response and was left speechless. Reid chuckled in disbelief.

"What," Reid scoffed. "Like it's a _surprise_?"

"Hey, Garwin!" called a voice from the doorway. "We have some unfinished business."

"Aaron Abbott," Reid said frustratedly to the ceiling without even having to look. "Usually _one_ beating is enough for most people. Besides, shouldn't you be in a _jail_ cell somewhere?"

"I've heard just about enough out of you, you cocky son of a bitch."

Then Aaron pulled a gun out of nowhere, and pointed it at Reid's forehead. People around screamed and ducked out of the crossfire. The music immediately died.

Reid stood defiantly before Aaron, pushing Elle away from the line of fire.

"When I heard you were screwing my girl, it was the last straw, Garwin," Aaron growled to him as his friends began to protest, trying to coax Aaron into putting the gun down. Reid spotted a girl in the crowd dialing 911. If he just stalled until the police came, everything would be okay… he hoped.

"Aaron, almost every guy in _town_ has screwed your girl, alright? So don't go singling me out when I haven't even done anything yet. Like I'd _want_ to anyway…"

Kira gasped with offense.

"So you don't want to screw Kira, huh?" Aaron chuckled evilly. "Who _do_ you want? _Her_?"

He pointed the gun at Elle, and Reid's heart lurched. Elle's eyes were wide with terror, tears beginning to form along the edges.

"Aaron… don't…" Reid tried to reason with him, but his heart was beating so loudly he couldn't hear himself think.

"How'd you escape the explosion, huh?" Aaron shouted. "How'd you tear my truck apart with only your _bare_ _hands_? ANSWER ME _THAT_, FREAK!"

Reid sensed Aaron's finger tensing around the trigger, but his mind was so fizzled at the sight of the barrel pointed at Elle's head that he couldn't register fear.

"His eyes were pure black, I tell you!" Aaron said to the crowd around him. "This guy's a freak, and I'm going to get to the bottom of this…"

He pointed his gun back at Reid, and took several steps closer to him to be sure he wouldn't miss.

"Let's see your hocus-pocus get you out of _this_, huh?" Aaron challenged, like a dare.

Oh, how Reid wished he could. But even _he_ had enough sense to know that he couldn't risk Using in a crowd like this… they would be exposed… the Covenant would be completely blown to pieces…

And there was also the factor that if he Used he might _blow up_ everyone here…

"Any last words, _freak_?" Aaron said with a smile. He probably thought he was doing the world a favor.

This was it. It was the end of the Garwin line. Reid had to be a martyr for the cause.

He glanced at Elle. At least it wasn't _her_ getting the bullet anymore. He was thankful for that much at least. He looked to Caleb and Pogue standing beside their terrified girlfriends. Caleb had an expression of deep concern on his face, probably wondering if Reid would Use and expose them. Reid shook his head to promise Caleb that this time… he would finally obey.

"Aaron…" Reid replied. "You had better listen close, because these are my final words…"

He then looked Aaron straight in the eyes and said:

"You're a _dick_."

Several things happened at once then, making time slow down around him. Aaron yelled like a battle charge, then pulled the trigger, then Elle screamed, and Reid closed his eyes, preparing for the imminent pain.

All became silent, save for the panting breath of those nearest to him. No pain came for several moments, much to his confusion.

When the people around began to gasp in surprise and murmur amongst themselves, then Reid opened his eyes again, trying to grasp the view around him.

A bullet hovered in midair between his eyes, then dropped to the floor. The gun crumbled into a million gravel-like pieces in Aaron's hands, then fell to the ground like ash.

Panting with relief, and still shaking in shock, Reid quickly looked around for the cause of his rescue.

There stood young Tyler, his hand outstretched before him and his eyes black as night.

He had saved him

"Oh… my… _God_…" Reid managed to spit out some words at last.

Immediately Caleb and Pogue came rushing into the house, shoving past a stunned Aaron to get to Tyler.

"Tyler!" Pogue said with worry. "You _idiot_! You're not supposed to be Using—you know that! You have to get out of here!"

"Don't call him an idiot if he just saved Reid's life, Pogue," Caleb scolded. "That's a better time to Use than any, _I_ would say."

He glanced at Reid as he said this, shooting undertones of his words to Reid. It seemed he had forgiven Reid for the 'Elle incident'.

"What's the _matter_ with him?" Elle said, her voice shaking with fear as Tyler began to collapse to the ground.

"Tyler," Caleb said. "Oh, no…"

"Ahh!" Tyler could only reply, dropping to his hands and knees and clutching the hardwood in pain. "Oh, God, it _hurts_!"

"Everyone get out of here!" Pogue yelled, herding the guests to the doors as fast as he could. "He's gonna blow, get OUT!"

Suddenly Pogue stopped in his tracks, as he gazed out the window of the house. Blue and red twirling lights began to come up the drive, coming in fast.

"Oh, _shit_!" Pogue shouted in horror. "COPS!!"

-

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	11. Chapter 11: The Interrogation

**Chapter 11:**

-

All four of the Son's of Ipswich stopped moving at once, their faces growing pale in fear as they watched the approaching police cars pull up to the house. They couldn't just up and leave Tyler behind. Not when he was like this.

"Ahh!" Tyler yelled in pain, grasping his head in the intense pain. His eyes were black as night, with spouts of fire blazing through them. He was Using, and he was Using _big_ time.

"I can't hold it in!" he shouted. There wasn't time to get out, so in quick and desperate thinking, Pogue dove behind a sofa, Caleb ducked into the kitchen, and Reid, who wasn't close to any cover, simply tackled Elle, using himself as a human shield for her…

And that's when Tyler exploded.

The house was quite literally torn in two. A crater formed in the living room floor, and pieces of the ceiling fell like rain. Smoke and debris flew every which way, smashing all the windows and blowing open the front door.

-

All three of the police cars slammed on their brakes, screeching to a halt, watching as the house split completely in half with a large _boom_, a bluish blast of energy bursting from it like a busted balloon.

"_What_ in hellfire was _that_?" Officer Reeve wondered aloud, then nodded to his partner, who in turn took out his gun and stepped out of the car. Officer McKinley grabbed his CB speaker and began yelling.

"I _said_, we have another ghost bombing! How do I know? Because I just _saw_ it, you moron! Alert the chief!"

"Oh, God," a yellow-haired girl said, collapsing gratefully into his partner's arms. "The boy! The boy exploded and he's still _alive_!"

Officer Reeve peered at the girl's eyes, wondering if she was drunk or even high. She appeared to be neither, just crying hysterically with chilling terror.

"They're freaks! The bombs came from _them_!"

Officer Reeve looked down to his CB, and picked it up once more.

"Uh, Carl? We're going to need backup," he said to it shakily.

-

As the dust settled, Caleb emerged from the kitchen, and Pogue dug his way out of the debris behind the sofa, picking pieces of glass from the overhead window out of his arm. They both went to Tyler, who sat on his knees in the middle of the trench, holding his shoulders and shaking violently.

"Tyler?" Pogue said, going to him with concern. "Calm down, buddy."

"So… much… Power…" he said, his teeth chattering like he was freezing cold.

"Tyler's never Used like that before," Caleb guessed. "I think it may have been more than he could handle. Where's Reid?"

A groan was heard from behind them, as a few drywall boards lifted to reveal Reid's location.

"Someone get this the hell offa me!" he demanded from underneath. Pogue rushed to his aid, though it would take several moments before he could even see his friend's body.

Reid looked down at his rescued damsel under him, wiping the white dust off her so he could see her face. Her eyes were closed.

"Elle?" Reid asked with worry. "Are you breathing?"

Her eyes fluttered open, and she gazed upon Reid with a faraway look her eyes. She looked at how they were positioned, and smiled broadly.

"Oh," she said, leaning her head back blissfully. "I'm having that _dream_ again…!"

This made Reid smile broadly as well.

"Alright, Loverboy," Pogue said, finally getting the last of the large pieces of rubble off of Reid. "That's about _enough_ excitement for one night."

"FREEZE!"

"Then again, I _may_ have spoken too soon…" Pogue said, putting his hands in the air, and the other's followed his example and did the same.

-

Pogue felt irritated to be put back in a holding cell for the second time that week. At least this one was a little nicer, but the thought brought him little comfort. He calmly leaned against the corner of the chamber, while Caleb sat upon the cot, his face in his hands. He could only imagine the utter frustration Caleb must have been feeling, probably blaming himself like he did with everything else.

Reid was over by the door, pacing in front of the bars like a caged tiger. His fists were clenched in rage, and every once in a while he would kick the bars to vent his anger and demand a phone call. Tyler, who had soon advanced into full-on seizures, had been taken away to God knows where, and it wasn't sitting well with any of those left behind.

The entire place was in a tizzy, everyone bustling around making phone calls, gathering papers, and herding away media. The only time they would bother to stop would be to look at the boys like they were zoo animals on display, in which case Reid would shout obscenities at them and they would quickly go back to what they were doing. It had been this way all night long and into the first hours of the morning, showed no signs of changing.

"I guess we all can kiss _Harvard_ goodbye," Reid commented scornfully, kicking the barred door for the hundredth time.

"Shut _up_, Reid," Pogue snapped.

Reid had a way of making situations that were already bad, even worse. Caleb, who hadn't even thought of that particular drawback, now progressed from frustration to full on aggravation, and began to make a dire attempt at pulling out his hair.

"We'll get out, Caleb," Pogue promised him. "We'll find Tyler, and we'll get out of this mess."

"With what?" Reid argued. "Some magic beans?"

"I _said_, shut UP, Reid!" Pogue commanded even louder than before, threatening against him speaking up again.

Caleb sighed loudly.

"Guys…" he said seriously. "We were born into a Covenant of silence. Under any circumstances, we _will_ be silent. We're the only ones who know the real truth and they can't know anything more unless we tell them-- Which we are _not_ going to do. Agreed?"

Reid and Pogue nodded.

"Alright," said an officer with a clipboard, as if right on cue. "Which one of you ladies would like to go to the interrogation rooms first?"

Reid seized the bars, letting the officer know it was the only thing holding him back from ripping him to shreds.

"Hey there, Coppah," Reid teased through his rage.

"_Reid_," Caleb protested, but Reid was too hot now.

"I want my phone call, asshole!" he yelled.

"Who are you so eager to call, hotshot?" the cocky officer said with a smug grin.

"Your mama. I wanted to know if she got the flowers I sent her— hey, it's none of your business _who_ I _call_, moron! I have a Constitutional right to a phone call and I want to _exercise_ it."

The officer chuckled as if he found this all very amusing.

"You're in the FBI headquarters of Massachusetts, kiddo. You can shove your 'Constitutional rights' where the sun don't shine. Hey, Hank!" he called to a fellow officer. "I have your first volunteer!"

-

Reid slouched in his chair before the aluminum table, staring at the interrogator with disdain. Across the hall, Caleb also sat before a detective, and one door down, so was Pogue.

Reid's interrogator was a bald, firmly built detective, who looked like he hated his job and looked forward to whenever it was over so that he could go back home to his wife and kids. The least kind of people he seemed to enjoy questioning was teenagers, especially ones who acted as punkass as this one did.

"Are you going to tell me what really happened at the Snider Lake House last night?" the large man, who went by the name of Hank, started.

Reid looked up to him with mocking eyes, and stayed quiet.

"None of your friends seem to be obliging," Hank explained. "But mark my words, you will stay here until we get some answers."

Still Reid said nothing, though a taunting smile began to twitch at the edges of his mouth.

"Alright," Hank demanded, slamming his hand down on the table. "Elle Bishop. The same girl was at the scene of the same kind of explosion where she was in a similar compromising situation as tonight. Witnesses say you and Mr. Sims were both interested in this girl, seen flirting with her on many occasions, but she denied you, isn't that right?"

"What are you getting at?" Reid said, enraged by the mention of Elle and where he was going with this.

"Did you or did you not attack Elle Bishop with sexual purposes on either of those nights?"

"No," Reid said firmly, disgust evident in his voice.

"Don't lie to me, son. Officers saw you on top of her just after the explosion happened. Come back for seconds, did you?"

"I was _protecting_ her from the blast!" Reid insisted.

Hank looked pleased at this revelation.

"So you _knew_ the explosion was coming!" he observed. "Knew because… you were there the _last_ time it happened?"

Reid shut his mouth, knowing he had said too much.

"All it takes is one DNA test and we'll know anyway, son. It's better to 'fess up while you still have the option open."

"Why are you asking me this?" Reid said worriedly, suddenly very suspicious. "Did something happen to Elle?"

-

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**

**PS. To '_Ash_': You guessed it! I wanted Elle Bishop to have the same last name as someone from the Witch Trails, so I chose Bishop. I was wondering if someone would figure out that piece of trivia—good job::Toots a kazoo: **


	12. Chapter 12: The Absence of Power

**Whoops! Had a little chapter mishap for a second. Here's the REAL update. Oh, and there are some suggestive themes ahead. You have been warned.**

**-**

**Chapter 12:**

-

Pogue glared at the man before him, having not answered a single question of his. His pudgy, gray-haired interrogator named Howard was starting to become a little peeved by his silence.

"What's your relationship with these other boys?" Howard asked, trying to keep his calm.

Pogue only stared back with a closed mouth.

"Do you know anything about these explosions?" he tried again.

No answer.

"How much do you remember of the party at the lake house last night?"

Nothing.

"You had better start talking, boy. Cat got your tongue?"

Pogue blinked once, and his mouth remained closed. This was really starting upset Howard, who grew a bit red in the face with his anger.

"I said, speak _up_!" he commanded with a raised voice.

Pogue began to stare at the ceiling with great interest.

"I said, SAY SOMETHING, BOY!" he shouted, spitting in his fury.

Pogue disgustedly raised his hand to his cheek, wiping the foreign saliva off his face with his two forefingers.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" he said at last.

Howard yelled in frustration, threw all his papers into the air and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind himself sourly.

Pogue smirked. Guess that was the end of his interrogation.

-

Caleb's interrogator was a woman named Caroline, a pushy, tight-lipped blond in her mid-thirties, and seemingly very passionate about her work. She carried around fresh files on all of them in her hands, and flipped casually through the pages as she questioned him, trying to act as if she didn't really care, though the intensity behind her voice told otherwise.

"Do you know why you are here, Mr. Danvers?"

Caleb sat right in his chair, slouching slightly, and didn't answer her.

"You and your friends…" she went on. "These 'Sons of Ipswich'… have been mysteriously linked to every strange event that goes on around that town. There have even been reports of some things _too_ mysterious to explain away. Do you have anything to say to this?"

Caleb remained stoic.

"No, ma'am."

"You do understand that lying only works against you, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She frowned, but let it go, and began to scan through the papers in her files for her next question.

"Don't I get a lawyer?" Caleb said with a look of concern.

"I think your friend has already discovered that Constitutional rights do not stand here," she replied.

"Right…" Caleb agreed with an understanding nod.

"You've been found out, Mr. Danvers," Caroline assured him. "It'd be best if you just explain everything to us so we can better understand the situation."

"Well, you seem like you have everything figured," Caleb said mockingly. "Who am I to rain on your parade?"

"Alright…" she said, going to a box that sat in the corner. She pulled out a book. A book that looked _very_ familiar. Caleb tried his best to contain his surprise as he gazed upon the gold lettering across the front of the ancient tome, boasting the title "_the Book of Damnation_". He cast his eyes away from its sight.

"Do you recognize this book, Mr. Danvers?" she asked, slamming the thick, heavy book onto the table.

"No, ma'am," Caleb lied coolly.

"It was found in an underground meeting place. One that holds stone chairs, bearing the names of you and each of your friends on the seats around a pentagram table. Can you explain how that could be?"

Caleb blinked twice as he stared blankly at the woman, and kept his mouth closed. This was getting worse by the minute.

"Are you and your fellow 'Sons of Ipswich' familiar with the practice of sorcery and witchcraft, Mr. Danvers?"

Again, Caleb kept his silence.

She began to slap the files in her hands onto the table, one by one as she spoke.

"There have been reports of abnormal physical feats, levitating objects, flying cars, darkened iris's… A girl gets high like she's on a date-rape pill with no traces of drugs in her system… Explosions that come from a boy's _head_? Can you _explain_ that for me?"

Caleb hesitated, impressed at how much this woman knew. There wasn't much left that she didn't seem aware of, and that disturbed him.

"_No_, ma'am," he said slowly and clearly.

-

Tyler opened his eyes to a room of white, and wondered if he had died and crossed over into the afterlife. Could this be heaven? If it was, it sure smelled funny…

As his eyes began to focus, he soon found this was not heaven at all, but rather very close to the opposite. He was lying on a white stretcher in a large white room, as the assorted nurses strapped him down with leather bindings. Doctors were bustling all around preparing for unknown tasks.

He even saw a clear window, and on the side stood important various people, some of which he recognized.

"Oh, _shit_," he said aloud. "Is that the _president_?"

"Sure is," said one of the nurses with a smile that almost seemed too sweet to be real.

"Where am I?" Tyler demanded.

"Don't be afraid," another nurse explained with an equally fake smile as she wiped the side of his shoulder with a small wet cloth. "We're just going to run some tests on you."

"Tests?" Tyler repeated with intense concern. "What kind of tests?"

His mouth abruptly closed as she pulled out a very long needle and squirted out a bit of its contents in front of him. Once satisfied it worked, she proceeded to jab it in his arm, making him call out in pain.

"Relax," she commanded. "It'll all be over soon…"

-

All three of the other Ipswich boys were escorted back to their cells at the same time, a similar look of distress reflected on all of their faces. No one spoke for a few minutes, as they headed back to their original places: Pogue leaning in the dark corner, Caleb sitting on the cot, and Reid pacing by the bars.

"So?" Pogue asked first. "How'd yours go?"

Caleb was the first to open his mouth.

"Well, they--" he started, but Reid interrupted him quickly.

"--Someone _got _Elle," he practically yelled. He seemed quite flustered by all of this new information, and was pacing extra fast and with longer steps. Caleb and Pogue looked up at Reid with confusion and alarm.

"What do you mean they _got_ her?" Caleb asked patiently.

"Are you _DEAF_?" Reid shouted with anger. "Someone ATTACKED her and they think it was _ME_!"

"Reid, calm down," Pogue coaxed his friend, who put a comforting hand on his shoulder but was immediately pushed away.

"I thought you got to Aaron and his boys before they could do anything?" Caleb said with wonder.

"That's exactly the _point_," Reid snapped, stopping to give Caleb a harsh look. "But they're saying someone got to Elle _before_ Aaron and his boys… and they Used in order to do it. It's why they're blaming me. They took a freakin' _DNA sample_, Caleb!"

"Calm down!" Caleb commanded. "That's a good thing… It'll prove you're innocent. Give it time."

"We don't _have_ that kind of time," Reid retorted. "I'm Ascending in _four_ _days_, Caleb. Elle could be _dead_ by then—or whoever this horny bastard is could be coming back for more!"

Pogue frowned in troubled suspicion, and looked to Caleb.

"You don't think _Tyler_ would do something like that, do you?"

Caleb rubbed his hands over his face in frustration and sighed very heavily.

"You and I _both_ know Tyler couldn't, even if he wanted to," he said in defeat. "He doesn't have the amount of Power for that kind of mind control. Unless it was consensual… but knowing Ty, I highly doubt that he would go _that_ far _that_ fast."

This made Reid chuckle through his anger.

"Tyler couldn't find his way into a girl's pants with directions and a _map_."

Pogue snickered at this, but Caleb wasn't amused.

"It has to be Chase," Caleb admitted at last. "He's the only one capable, and can Use like that. Tyler mentioned that Elle lived with only her father. Chase may have even gone so far as to make Mr. Bishop's mother sick so that her father would leave town and Chase could get Elle alone."

Pogue shook his head in disbelief, growing serious at the mention of the dreaded name of the banished Ipswich brother.

"That's a _lot_ of trouble for _one_ little girl," Pogue argued. "Even if it _had_ been Chase… and he was back from the dead… why would he do that to Smelly Ellie, of all girls?"

"Something shifty is going on," Reid stated, his shoulders tensing in anger. "And I don't like it."

"What if he goes after Kate next, like he did last time?" Pogue told Caleb with quickly increasing concern. "What if it's _Sarah_? I, for one, am not going to just sit around and wait for that to happen…"

Pogue then went to the bars and clenched the door with his hands, preparing to Use to open the lock. Caleb, who knew what was coming next, rose quickly to his feet in preparation to stop him.

"Pogue," Caleb warned. "Don't… not here…"

Suddenly Pogue stopped, his shoulders falling, and Caleb was surprised to the fact that Pogue appeared to have obeyed him so quickly. That assumption was quickly taken away though, when Pogue turned back around to them very slowly, in his eyes a look of intense fear. The other two seemed at a loss for words, their brows furrowing in alarm at Pogue's sudden panic.

"Guys…" Pogue said fearfully. "Why can't I _Use_?"

-

**  
New chapter very soon. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	13. Chapter 13: The Ipswich Curse

**-**

**Chapter 13:**

-

"Caleb Danvers?" an officer said, peering into the cell to find the boy in question. "Your mother is here to see you. She requested to speak with you privately."

In seconds Caleb was on his feet and at the door, waiting impatiently for them to unlock it so that he could see her.

They clapped handcuffs on his wrists and led him to one of the vacant interrogation rooms. His mother was already waiting on the inside, a cigarette held up to her lips and an empty ashtray set on the table before her. She hugged her son gladly, and the policeman let them be.

"A mother could only hope they never have to see their child in handcuffs," she said gloomily, as Caleb took a seat across from her.

"I'm sorry, mother," Caleb said earnestly. "I did all I could to stop it, believe me."

Evelyn Danvers nodded, her expression coarse and pensive, and leaned in close to her son.

"Speak softly with me now," she said. "In case they can hear us."

Caleb nodded understandingly.

"Pogue's lost his Power," Caleb explained.

"Of course," Evelyn nodded in agreement. "Any Son who has discharged has."

"You _know_ why this is happening?" Caleb asked anxiously.

"It's why I came, son," she explained coolly. There wasn't much that could surprise his mother; he should've known.

"It's not recorded in the _Book of Damnation_, but I think there's something about it in the _Chronicles of Paganism_. It's called the Curse of Ipswich. It's an extremely rare, very difficult curse that could only be cast by a fellow Ipswich Son— and _only_ if there was turmoil in the midst."

"Tyler and Reid _have_ been kind of going at it lately," Caleb stated thoughtfully. "Not to mention my blowout with Chase."

"It was supposed to be drawn on for disabling further Use of the Power if the Covenant was breaking from the inside out. If you Used while the curse was upon you, your Power would then spring out of you, such as in an explosion, and go into another entity for temporary safekeeping."

"Who or what is the 'entity'?" Caleb asked, but Evelyn shook her head and took another lungful of her cigarette.

"The head chooses someone outside of the Covenant. But listen closely now, Caleb," his mother whispered intensely, flashing a look of warning. "It's a very dangerous thing to have all of the Covenant's power in a single person. If someone finds out who or what the entity is, they could cast a spell to draw all the Power into themselves."

Caleb frowned in unease. If Chase knew about this… the consequences would be fatal to them all.

"I appreciate this, mom," he said in a normal tone.

"I'm trying to post bail," she promised in an equal voice volume to his. "I'll get you out soon. Beatrice has already wired bail for Pogue, though she didn't seem happy about bailing him out _again_, so I spent a long time trying to explain it all too her, Putnam fiasco and all. I'm still trying to track down Meredith to send money for Reid, but you know how hard _that_ can be. As for Tyler, we're still trying to find out where he _is_."

"You don't know either, huh?" Caleb asked with concern.

"They said he's under government quarantine," she explained. "We're all outraged-- the poor thing… Who knows what they're doing to him in there…"

-

"Mr. President," said a doctor in a white lab coat, shaking the older man's hand in greeting. The president glanced at his nametag, which read '_Robert Sablove, M.D_."

"What have you found out about these 'witches'?" the President asked attentively.

"Sir, all our neurological and craniological results are coming up negative," Doctor Sablove explained. "The boy is one hundred percent human. There's nothing abnormal about him that could explain his abilities. The only unusual thing we found was this."

He showed him a paper with a few numbers and strange words on it.

"These are the results of a scan of the eyes. As you can see here, we found an abnormal amount of melanin in the retinitis pigmentosa behind the iris of his eyes. He also has a few extra nerve endings here, which swell when a certain part of the--"

"What are you trying to say, Doctor?" the President interrupted impatiently.

Dr. Sablove put his paper of statistics down.

"The boy does contain the scientific ability to make his iris's turn black. It has never been heard of in a person before, so you see how this arouses concern…"

"Mr. President?" a man in a blue suit tapped the old man on the shoulder. "It's time to go to the press conference.

"Keep me posted," the president commanded Dr. Sablove. "I have to go straighten this mess out."

"Might I ask," the doctor called after him before he exited. "What you're going to tell America?"

"I'm a good president, Dr. Sablove," he replied with a heavy sigh. "I'll tell the truth."

"Which is?"

"That we have four, very gifted, very abnormal, very _dangerous_ boys in our midst."

-

Elle grabbed her TV dinner in her dark and empty home, having a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach like she had eaten a rock for lunch. Her own cozy little home in which she had grown up now seemed to be the most eerie place in the world, since her father had left. She turned the TV on for the background noise. She hated watching the news, which is what her dad always left on.

She dug around the sofa for the remote, and finally found it (along with about eleven cents in change). Absentmindedly, she pointed the clicker at the screen and pressed the button. Nothing happened, so she pressed it again.

It was only then she realized that she _was_ changing the channels, but the same thing was on every station.

"_Police investigate similar explosions happening…"_

"_Trying to uncover the truth behind…"_

"_Boys are being held in custody until…"_

"_The President encourages us that steps are being taken to ensure…"_

Elle froze like a statue, her eyes glued to the screen. A visual image of the Snider Lake House exploding in half appeared on the screen, and she gasped. Another station had an actual videotape of the boys inside the lake house.

"_Be cautioned, what you're about to see _may_ disturb you:"_

The video was taken from the outside of the house, shot through a window. It showed Aaron first, pulling his gun on Reid. Faint shouts of Aaron calling him a freak was heard, and Elle relived those moments when the gun was pointed at her.

When Aaron was about to pull the trigger, suddenly the gun disintegrated in his hands, much to his surprise. The camera turned to Tyler, whose eyes were black and his hand was outstretched. All too soon he dropped to his knees, and the camera zoomed in closely to him.

It was no wonder they were taken in custody. No doubt the police would come knocking on her door for information next. Elle grabbed her purse and jacket, and headed out the front door.

-

Pogue and Reid looked up as the cops escorted Caleb back into the holding cell with them. They were alarmed by the look on Caleb's face, which was one of deep emotional strain. Something was definitely wrong.

"What'd your mom have to say?" Reid asked.

"She's trying to get us out," Caleb replied sullenly, returning to his seat on the cot.

"S'about time," Reid muttered.

"What _else_ did she have to say?" Pogue urged him on worriedly.

Caleb rubbed his hands over his face, something he did only in the most stressful of times. He repeated to them what his mother had warned him about, and soon their faces matched his.

"And no one knows who the entity _is_?" Pogue pressed. "I would think someone who just got three sets of Power in them would be pretty easy to find, seeing as they would be Using like crazy."

"They're just a temporary holder, Pogue," Caleb said. "They probably don't even know it's inside them."

"Well, _that_ sucks," Reid remarked. "What do we do?"

"We concentrate on getting out of here first," Caleb replied. "Then we find this 'entity' before Chase does."

"You make it sound so _easy_," Pogue mumbled with contempt.

"Well, aren't you boys popular today?" an officer said, suddenly appearing again in front of the barred door with a snotty expression. "You have another visitor. It's for Phone Call Boy."

Reid rolled his eyes at the name and dragged himself over to the door.

"Who in the hell--?" Pogue muttered, his curiosity making him crane his neck to see who was coming for Reid.

They spotted Elle making her way through the bustling FBI station in long, determined strides. Her face had a look of single-minded courage, having one purpose and setting out just to do that. When she arrived, she did a once-over of each of the boys. Satisfied that they seemed to be in good health, she opened her mouth to speak.

"I told them the only way I would tell them anything was if I talked to you first," she explained to Reid in a low voice. "But I don't have a lot of time."

Reid sighed happily and just nodded with an obnoxious grin, relieved that she seemed all right and was just thankful to be in her presence.

"Get that stupid grin off your face," she commanded. "I'm not here because I'm worried for _you_. Far as I'm concerned this is just where you belong. Behind bars."

"So why _are_ you here?"

"I wanted to make sure you guys were okay."

"So you _were_ worried about me…" Reid guessed with a taunting smile.

Elle gave him a contentious look.

"Don't ruin it."

Reid lowered his voice and leaned closer to Elle.

"Listen, I heard about what happened to you the other night," he said seriously. "I didn't touch you, I _swear_."

She cast her eyes to the floor and bit her lip.

"I know…" she said decidedly. "And I know you saved me from Aaron. After that night, I read up on you all--"

"--Yeah," Reid agreed with a nod. "I found the journal."

Reid glanced over his shoulder at the others to make sure they weren't eavesdropping. Caleb was talking deeply with Pogue, trying to sort out facts and figures on the inner workings of the curse. Reid turned his head back to the girl before him, and leaned his forehead on the bars in defeat. He spoke like the dreaded words had to be forced out of him.

"I'm _sorry_," Reid blurted out after a moment or two of their silence.

"For what?" Elle wondered, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"For harassing you in freshman year," he replied like it should have been common knowledge.

Elle couldn't fight her grin at this, knowing how hard it was for Reid to admit something like that. She decided to reward him with a declaration of her own.

"I never told you why I fell into that garbage can, did I?" she said with an embarrassed smile.

"Lost your balance?" Reid guessed.

"I wasn't looking where I was going…" she said, then looked anywhere but at him. Her cheeks began to turn a light shade of pink. "Because I was looking at this _boy_…"

Reid suddenly gave her his full attention, surprise and confusion all over his face, though he didn't say a word.

"I'd had a crush on him for as long as I could remember," she went on. "I'd never do anything about it— I'd just admire him from afar. As I was watching him eat his lunch, I walked right into a trashcan full of Meat-Loaf Mondays. I've never smelled so _rank_ before in my life and of course, he noticed that… and gave me a name that stuck… I think it hurt the most because it came from _him_…"

Reid began to understand the meaning behind her words, but was still so stunned that he couldn't speak. She looked at him directly.

"You were right. You _did_ change. But I didn't. I tried to, I really did. I wanted to like Tyler… but I should've known my soul was sold to you in fourth grade when you handed me your pencil to use after I broke my own."

Reid snickered at this in amusement, but still couldn't find words to say. Usually he had a response for everything. Not now.

Elle then reached through the bars and stroked his jaw line with her thumb gently.

"I don't care if you don't really love me back," she confessed, her voice beginning to shake. "At this point, I'll take whatever you can give me."

He grabbed the hand caressing his cheek very abruptly, and held it there for what seemed like an eternity. Elle's heart beat so loud she could hear it pulsing in her ears, and she anxiously awaited his reply to all she had professed.

After a minute or so, Reid broke through with an amused smile.

"You 'sold your soul' to me, huh?" he repeated with a smug look about him. "And that would make _me_, presumably, the _devil_?"

Elle grinned right back.

"Yeah," she admitted blissfully. "I guess so…!"

Reid nodded in understanding and considered this for a moment.

"I can handle that," he said decidedly, then suddenly reached through the bars and grabbed Elle by the cheeks, locking his lips on hers hard. It was rather difficult to kiss her as well as he meant to when the iron bars held him back, but it was heaven all the same. Her lips tasted like vanilla, and she smelled like something just as sweet. She was 'Smelly Ellie', no longer.

Elle looked a little woozy when Reid finally let her go. The police came in with impeccable timing, and escorted her out. She didn't have the breath to object.

Reid tilted his neck to watch her go as long as the limited sight through the bars would allow. His heart leapt when she looked back one more time before she departed, smiling fondly before leaving indefinitely.

After she was gone, Reid sighed loudly in happiness, swooning before he remembered…

He wasn't alone.

He whirled around hurriedly to see the alarm and confusion on Caleb and Pogue's faces as they looked with shock to one another, and then back to him. Reid quickly fell back into 'bad boy' mode, folding his arms confrontationally and glaring icily at his friends.

"You got something to say, say it," he commanded defiantly.

Caleb and Pogue exchanged glances with one another again, before Pogue finally spoke up.

"Tyler's going to be _pissed_," he declared.

-

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	14. Chapter 14: The Stakes are Raised

**-**

**Chapter 14:**

-

Tyler shivered and shook all over, as the policeman, the lawyers, the doctors, and the scientists all led him down the hall, talking heatedly amongst themselves on his fate. Being too traumatized by the entire matter, he didn't have the voice to speak up for himself. His head felt a little dizzy from whatever it was that they put in him, and could barely walk a straight line.

"There are still more things to find out—more tests to run!" the doctor nearest to him argued with a lawyer.

"We've done quite enough," the lawyer replied. "He's still a human, as you've directly discovered, and with this all over America now we have no means to keep him any longer without causing questions and civil rights action. He only a _child_, after all."

"'Only a child', my foot," the policeman added in. "Everyone knows that this freak can do… well, you saw it!"

"We've done all we can do," the lawyer insisted. "We have to let them go, at least until we can gather more evidence."

"You hear that, boy?" the policeman said in Tyler's ear. "You'll be back if we ever have something to do with it. Oh, you'll be back, alright…"

-

"What's your malfunction, Pogue?" Reid asked as Pogue continually kept a watch on the door, and sighing to himself every so often in great disappointment.

"It's Kate," he said. "You would've thought she'd have found me by now."

"We _are_ in the FBI headquarters," Caleb said encouragingly. "It's how I can excuse Sarah not being here either."

"Oh, _I_ see," Reid said with an understanding nod. He began to inspect his nails pridefully, an arrogant smirk dancing on the edges of his mouth. "You both are jealous because _MY _girl came for me and either of yours _didn't_…"

Caleb angrily grabbed the pillow off the cot and hurled it at Reid's head, the same time Pogue shouted:

"SHUT _UP_, REID!"

"Hey, hey!" Reid threw up his hands to defend himself. "I just tell it like it is…"

The cell door opened then, and all eyes turned to see Tyler get escorted inside with them. The police uncuffed him, then went on his way, slamming the barred door closed after himself.

All three of the Ipswich Sons rushed to their fourth member, looking him over for damages and asking all sorts of questions at once:

"Are you alright?"

"Can you talk?"

"What'd they do to you?"

"What's going on out there?"

"_Dude_, you look like _shit_!"

On that last one, Tyler glared toward the brother who uttered it with contempt.

"_Thanks_, Reid."

"Like I said," Reid replied promptly. "I just tell it like it is."

"Oh, good," Caleb said with relief, patting Tyler on the back encouragingly, glad Tyler could at least speak. "At least you still have your senses."

"Or what little sense he had in the first place," Pogue added on.

"Ohh, _burn_!" Reid said with approval, slapping Pogue's hand with appreciation.

"Guys, focus!" Caleb said, snapping his fingers to get their attention. He rubbed the pressure points between his eyes. "I swear, it's like I'm running a day-care center."

He turned back to Tyler, and sat him down on the cot.

"What do you remember?" Caleb asked him clearly and calmly.

"They ran a bunch of tests, but they couldn't find anything," Tyler replied in a low voice. Suddenly he grew excited. "Oh, _and_ I saw the president!"

"No _way_!" Pogue said with disbelief.

"Well, _that_ can't be good," Caleb frowned, falling deep into thought. "How many people have found out about all this?"

Tyler looked back up.

"Let's just say: you can start with America and work your way out."

Caleb immediately frowned at this and slammed his head into the nearest wall with immense disappointment.

Tyler rubbed his hands over his face and tried to forget the horrors that he had suffered in the past few days. His arm hurt from how much blood they had taken, his butt hurt from how many shots they had given him, and he was tired from all the laps on the treadmill they had made him run, with wires attached to his head and chest. His throat was dry and the funny taste in his mouth lingered. It was going to take a few years of therapy to get over this one.

"The Covenant of Silence is _over_, Caleb," he explained drearily. "We're the front-page news and it doesn't look like we'll be leaving there anytime soon."

Pogue looked at Caleb with worry, wondering how their leader was going to react to this news. Caleb seemed rather stoic, as he usually did, but fearful at the same time.

"I figured as much," Caleb said gloomily.

"You don't think this is going to be a repeat of the Salem Trials, do you, Caleb?" Pogue asked in concerned speculation.

"I don't know," Caleb replied honestly. "I just… don't know."

"We're getting out tomorrow," Pogue assured Tyler. "You're mom already settled it out, and we're just waiting on Reid's parents. We'll find out more then."

"Elle's the entity," Reid piped up all of a sudden, stepping forward decidedly.

All prior conversation froze, as they looked to him with confusion at his abrupt announcement.

"'Entity'? What '_entity_'?" Tyler asked anyone who would listen, but all attention was now on Reid.

"Caleb's mom said our Powers have gone to some entity for safekeeping," Pogue explained quickly to Tyler.

"Chase went after her that night and Used to drug her," Reid went on, his eyes locked on Caleb's. "Which is why she came out clean. The only reason Chase'd be so concerned with her is if she was the entity— it only makes _sense_."

"God…" Caleb said with alarm. "He may be right."

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked with concern. "What's going on?"

"God, Caleb!" Reid shouted. "She's out there right _now_! He's going to go after her again! He could've gotten to her again already!"

"Who's going after who?" Tyler asked, still completely lost.

Reid then seized the bars and in his fury tried to pry them loose.

"Hey!" he shouted to the guard. "_Moron_! Let us _outta_ here!"

"You freaks will be back on the street soon enough," the guard replied with disdain.

"You don't understand, it's an emergency--" Caleb started, but Reid was too riled up now.

"Hey, listen asshole! There's a girl out there who's in a helluva lot of trouble and if you don't let us out right _now_, I'm swear I'm going to put a hurt on you so _big_--"

"Reid!" Pogue insisted, grabbing Reid and pulling him away from the bars. "Cut it out—we're stuck here until tomorrow. We can only hope nothing happens to her until then."

But Reid was near hysterical.

"This can't be happening… Shit! We gotta _do_ something, dammit! He's going to _kill_ her to get to the Power!"

"Reid, calm down!" Caleb said, placing his hands on Reid's shoulders and looking him in the eyes. "Look, Pogue's right—there's nothing we can do."

Reid's face fell, and he violently shook off Pogue's hold on him and went back to the corner, most likely to mope about it. Caleb felt a pang of pity for Reid, having never witnessed him getting this riled over some chick. It made Caleb reconsider his prior assumptions about Reid's intentions for Elle. Maybe Reid really _did_ feel something for the girl… it would sure explain a lot… And after just kissing the girl for the first time? Must be quite the mind job.

Caleb bit his lip, his sympathy rapidly increasing. What if it was Sarah? Would he act so very different?

"I'm…" Caleb stumbled over the words. "I'm _sorry_, Reid… I really am."

Reid looked up at Caleb with raw anger in his eyes at the injustice of it all, his breathing forced. It was the most broken Caleb had ever seen anyone look, even if it was rage in the place of tears. It was just Reid's way of showing pain, and he had been friends with him long enough to know that much about him.

"Will someone _please_ explain to me what the HELL IS GOING _ON_?" Tyler insisted in utter frustration.

"I'll explain it," said a voice from the doorway. All eyes turned to see a sight they never expected to see.

"_Kate_?" Pogue asked in wonder.

"She says she's your fiancée," the guard said. "So I let her through."

The guard didn't seem to notice that Kate's eyes flashed pure white for a moment, and her smile was completely wicked. She was under a spell.

"Things are so very easy when there are no heroes around to save the day," she said with a vicious cackle, as the guard took his leave.

"That's not Kate," Caleb whispered to Pogue. "She's under Chase's possession."

"Oh, God, no…" Pogue breathed.

"Haven't you been wondering why I've been skipping so many classes?" she asked her betrothed. "Why I'm always late for lunch recently? Honestly, if you loved me so, you would think things like that would draw your attention…"

"But Sarah said--" Pogue tried.

"Oh, Sarah's feeling a bit 'under the weather' as well," Kate explained, just as Sarah came up from behind her with a similar set of white-out eyes. That's when Caleb stopped breathing.

"The board is set," Sarah explained evilly. "Come tomorrow, the game will begin."

The girls smiled at the boys one more time before leaving them behind to drown in their horror at all they had seen and heard. They stood frozen in shock, their mouths gaping in their speechlessness.

Reid lifted his head from his sulking position to look at Caleb and Pogue.

"_Sucks_ when you can't save your woman, _doesn't_ it?"

-

**  
Now seems to be a good place to warn my beloved readers: nothing is as it seems. This story isn't over yet—and still has so much to say! Hopefully my twists will surprise you! Anyway, please review; I'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, opinions, or any thoughts on my maniacal schemes ahead. ::grins evilly like possessed Kate::   
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	15. Chapter 15: The First Day Back

**-**

**Chapter 15:**

-

"Alright, freaks," Officer Reeve, whom the Ipswich Sons had gotten to know quite personally over the past few days, said with a fake grin. All boys rose to their feet as he put the keys in the door and jerked it open for them.

"You're free to go."

"Thank God," Caleb said, the same time Reid muttered: "S'about time."

Caleb embraced his mother on the outside of the cell, thankful to be standing with her on the other side. When Caleb was through, the other boys each had a turn thanking her as well.

"Thank you, Misses Danvers," Tyler said with a respectful nod, and Pogue repeated the same.

"Your mothers are waiting rather impatiently outside," Evelyn informed them, and they nodded in reply. "You had better go to them before they get arrested themselves for harassing the police officers."

Before Reid could follow, Evelyn reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Meredith isn't out there, son," she told him apologetically, and Caleb felt his heart lurch at Reid's plummeting face. "_I _was the one who posted your bail," she finished.

"Figures," Reid replied callously, and went with the others.

Only Caleb knew truly of Reid's past, and frowned at the memories of the last time Reid's parents hadn't come through for him. It was the real reason Caleb let Reid get away with so much, even though he knew he really shouldn't.

"Thanks for fronting him anyway, mom," Caleb said, tightening his arm around his shoulder as they walked on. "I'm sure he appreciates it…"

"I hope so," she said. "It sure cost a pretty penny, I'll tell you that much."

"What excuse did Meredith have this time?"

Evelyn shook her head.

"You know how she is, son," she shrugged it off. "She doesn't need an excuse for _anything_ she does."

They exchanged sorrowful looks, and watched as Reid standoffishly observed Tyler and Pogue reunite with their own mothers.

"It's like she doesn't even remember she has a son," Caleb said, a bit of anger in his sad tone. "Mrs. Sims is a whole other story though… Shouldn't she be in a hospital bed somewhere?"

"That's what I tried to tell her," Evelyn agreed. "But she was so upset about her 'baby boy' being splattered all over the television that she stormed right out of Salem Memorial and drove right over."

"And you?" Caleb asked warily, searching into his mother's eyes for any sign of what she was feeling. "What do _you_ think about all this?"

"I think the Covenant was bound to be exposed someday," she said, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out her usual brand of cigarettes. "What do you expect from young boys with powers that ache to be used? Frankly, I'm surprised we were lucky enough to have it go on this long."

Caleb was relieved his mother wasn't angry with him, and let out a sigh.

"I had hoped it wouldn't end with us."

"Are you really so surprised?" she said as she lit up and took a lungful of smoke. "Look around you, son!"

She was right—even against Caleb's advice and better judgment, they were quite the group of Users. Caleb's eyes fell immediately to Reid. Reid would Use at any excuse, and sometimes even without an excuse. If Caleb could've laid odds on it, his bet would've been for Reid being the one to expose them all, for how reckless he showed off his Power.

Caleb next looked to Pogue, who was embracing his mother as she cried—as Caleb soon discovered—tears of joy.

"My boy!" she exclaimed happily. "Getting married?! Oh, my God! Where's the lucky girl?"

At this, Pogue's face fell, and he began to stumble over words. Caleb didn't catch his reply.

Pogue was always the least of Caleb's worries, but even Pogue had his times of questionable Using. Take, for example, the way he Used to make his motorcycle defy the laws of physics. That had already been a subject of perplexity among his outside friends. Even Pogue had it in him to be the one to break the Covenant.

Caleb next looked at Tyler, who looked concerned with his mother, and in turn his mother looked equally concerned with him.

"I can't sit on it, but the soreness'll pass, I guess…" he explained to her, rubbing his rear end in pain.

"My poor baby boy…" Tyler's mother, Rosie, cried. She held her son even closer to her bosom, which made Tyler go a bit red, seeing that Reid was still staring.

Surprisingly, it had been Tyler to expose them. Tyler, whom Caleb knew would follow Reid's example to the death, would be another reasonable choice for Using in public view. He would Use just to prove he was one of them.

Suddenly Caleb felt less surprised at the exposure, finally realizing he should have seen this coming like his mother had. Every one of the Covenant brothers could've been a candidate for its undoing.

"Com'on, you guys," Caleb prompted his friends. "We have a couple of urgent matters to attend to, in case you've forgotten."

"Oh," Pogue said seriously with a quick nod. "He's right. Mom, I have to go. Like, _now_." He leaned down to her level and kissed her cheek, then walked off first with one-minded determination.

"'Urgent matters'?" Beatrice Parry repeated to Pogue. "What kind of 'urgent matters'?"

"It's about my future wife and the fifth bloodline and I really have to go."

Caleb was the next to follow, then Reid also stepped up with the others. Tyler's mother grabbed him before he could take a single step.

"Not you," she commanded. "You've been through enough already."

"Mrs. Sims," Caleb said with a frown. "It's going to be okay. I'm sure this will all die down in a couple of days, but for now, we need him."

She nodded and reluctantly let Tyler go, loosening her death grip on his olive green jacket.

"Be careful," Evelyn warned them, nervously sticking her curly brown hair behind her ear. "The world has changed out there."

-

Boy, was _that_ ever an understatement. As soon as Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Tyler stepped out the door of the FBI headquarters, they were bombarded with news reporters and various members of the press. All were shoving tape recorders and microphones in each of their faces and shooting questions at them like bullets:

"Where did these abilities come from?"

"How long have you been aware of these so called 'powers'?"

"What are the extent of your gifts, and do we have reason to be afraid of them?"

Caleb, feeling overwhelmed, did his best to shove through them, snapping a "no comment" to any question.

"Well, _actually_," he heard Reid's voice through the mob. "I mean, I don't mean to _brag_, but… I'm actually the most talented of the four of us--"

Caleb reached through the crowd and let his hand firmly grasp the sleeve of his friend, and practically dragged him out of the center and forced him to walk on like the rest of them.

"Reid," he shot in his ear. "Congrats, you just won the 'biggest idiot of the year' award."

He kept a good grip on Reid all the way back into Tyler's hummer waiting for them in the parking lot. His mother had smartly assured them an escape plan. Caleb promptly shoved Reid into the backseat.

"Don't you know when to keep your mouth shut?" Caleb said after he had closed the door behind himself to block the reporters out. Even still, the insistent press tapped on the window like birds trying to get to their prey. Tyler, out of breath, jumped into the driver's seat, and Pogue scrambled into the passenger's side.

"What," Reid countered Caleb. "Like they don't already know we're freaks? Might as well go along with it and be 'cool freaks'."

"Yeah," Caleb replied. "We go along with it, we end up on white stretchers in a laboratory like Tyler here."

Tyler shuddered at the horrid memory as he started up the car.

"Humanity is afraid of what they can't comprehend," Caleb went on. "It's the way we always were."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Pogue jumped into the conversation, gazing at Caleb over the shoulder of the leather seat. "You still think they see us as part of their 'humankind'? Think again."

Caleb looked around to all the reporters and the flashing cameras, doing their best to get a good shot without getting run over as Tyler began to ease out of the parking space. He had to admit, Pogue was right. Their entire lives were never going to be the same.

-

That morning, Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Tyler bravely strolled through the campus, heading back to the dorms to find the girls. A crowd of students had gathered in front, getting ready for the first bell to ring. As the Sons drew near, it seemed all eyes were glued to them, while murmurs and whispers arose at their sight.

"Just stick together, guys," Caleb assured them. "We'll be alright."

The boys followed their leader in a straight line, trying their best to avoid the glares and bewildered looks of the students. Soon outbursts followed.

"You don't belong here!" one student shouted.

"Go back to hell where you came from!" said another.

"We don't want you!"

"Going to blow up the _school_ next?"

Reid stopped suddenly, glaring at them, wishing hard he could Use to teach them a lesson, or at least get them to shut up.

"Let it roll, Reid," Caleb commanded him, putting a claming hand on his shoulder and pushing him onward. "Keep your cool."

"Yeah, just _ignore_ them," Reid repeated cynically, continuing on their 'Walk of Shame'. "This is just great. We're getting persecuted for powers we don't even have anymore."

"Speaking of persecuted," Tyler chimed in, pointed ahead of them to a pile of boxes, clothing, and various furniture pieces sprawled out on the lawn. "Reid, isn't that _our_ stuff?"

Laughter began to rise at Reid's enraged expression, followed by Tyler's. Sure enough, it was. Reid looked to Caleb with an expectant expression, daring Caleb to tell him to simply 'ignore it' again. Caleb sighed in reply.

"Com'on," Caleb assured them, heading up to the pile and grabbing a box. "We'll help you put it all back."

"Yeah," Pogue said apologetically. "I would too if I had that kind of time. Unfortunately, I have a fiancée under the spell of a madman with superpowers. I'm sure you can understand that you have to excuse me. Caleb, you coming?"

Caleb looked sorrowfully to his friends, then at the surrounding scoffers enjoying their torment. Reluctantly, he finally handed the box to Tyler.

"Sorry," Caleb said lamely. "Bigger problems to deal with."

"Yeah, thanks guys!" Reid called after them sarcastically as they ran off onward, disappearing into the school. "Way to 'stick together'!"

Tyler and Reid exchanged looks, then shook their heads in disbelief.

"Com'on, Ty," Reid said. "Let's get this done before it starts raining."

-

Pogue raced down the halls with Caleb at his heels, heading straight for where Sarah and Kate's dorm. How Pogue wished she had just moved in with him a day ahead of schedule, then maybe this wouldn't have happened… the thought was of little comfort.

He was discouraged to find that the dorm was empty, with unmade beds and scattered clothing left as the only trace.

"What are you doing in our room?" Pogue heard her familiar voice say to him from behind. Caleb and him turned to see Sarah and Kate standing indignantly in the doorway.

"Baby," Pogue said, going to Kate cautiously. "Oh, I'm so glad you're safe. Hey, listen to me…"

"'Baby'?" Kate repeated, taking a step back. "You must be talking to some other sucker, freak. Get out of my room before I call the nearest rent-a-cop patrolling the school."

Pogue's face fell, and Caleb frowned. He knew exactly what Pogue was feeling, since he felt the same rotten feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw Sarah. Sarah turned to Caleb, her eyes flashing white for a moment, and said:

"Same goes for you too, psycho. Consider yourself 'dumped'."

"Pogue," Caleb said, looking to his friend seriously. Pogue feared that look in his friend's eye.

"I'm the only one with Power left," Caleb explained. "I can free them if I Use."

"Caleb," Pogue said, shaking his head no with concern. "You can't… not here… not now…"

Caleb felt his Power churn within him, begging to be Used. He had twice the Power to fight than the others, and it was eating him alive that he couldn't draw on it. The feeling was only amplified when he looked at the hateful expression on Sarah's face. He could free her from Chase's hold… he knew he could…

"Caleb," Pogue pleaded, grabbing his sleeve. "Don't… You'll blow up…"

He found it strange that _he_ was the one telling _Caleb_ to calm down… it was certainly a reversing of the usual roles.

Soon the Power was screaming in Caleb's head. He thought deeply on it for a few moments, weighing each risk and gain in his head. Would it be worth it? As he stared at his beloved Sarah, it made him wonder.

"Sarah," Caleb said with sorrow, stroking her cheek, hoping that if he could just reason with her… But she immediately jerked away.

"Don't touch me, pervert!" she yelled. "Kate, call security."

Caleb stepped back, gathering the Power together, getting ready for a big dose…

"You can't, Caleb," Pogue argued, grabbing him to stare him in the face. "As much as it _kills_ me to say this: we can't help them like this. You'll just prove to everyone that we really are what they say we are. Think of Tyler… white stretchers and laboratories… do you want that to happen to all of us?"

"Pogue," Caleb replied, stretching out his hand to the girls. "I have to… It's the only way…"

"Caleb…" Pogue tried one more time even though he suspected it was useless. "Not like this…"

-

**  
Sheesh, _ANOTHER_ cliffhanger! So sorry… Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	16. Chapter 16: The Preconjured Dreams

**-**

**Chapter 16:**

-

Caleb lowered his hand slightly, his thoughts catching up with him. Here he stood, before his lovely Sarah, ready to free her, even if it meant losing his powers for her, or even his freedom. But for the sake of the others, he hesitated.

Pogue realized he was getting through to Caleb at last, as they stared at their white-eyed girlfriends with equal sorrow.

"Caleb," Pogue tried once more. "You do this, _he_ wins. He'll have all our Power. You do this, it's all over… for everyone."

Caleb fought his own soul, his own heart, willing everything he had into lowering his hand. He sighed deeply in pain, knowing Pogue was absolutely right.

"Sarah," Caleb said honestly. "We're gonna get through this. I promise."

"Creep," Sarah commented, then turned her back to him.

Caleb took this as his cue to leave, and followed Pogue out the door, his shoulders falling in strong discouragement.

"What are we going to do, Caleb?" Pogue asked him through the sadness within him. Hopelessness was a mutual feeling in both of them.

"I was hoping you could tell _me_," Caleb replied, looking to his friend in despair.

-

Once the two boys were finished putting their stuff back in place, Tyler sighed and threw himself on his bed in fatigue. The rain, as Reid had predicted, had come all too soon, even though it was the end of May. So they were forced to get as much as they could inside as quickly as they could, lest their furniture get warped by the moisture or their clothes get even heavier when soaked with water. All in all it had been an exhausting experience, physically and emotionally.

He was more or less shocked when he spotted Reid grab his jacket, scarf and beanie, in preparation for the outside rain once more.

"Reid," Tyler said in confusion. "Where're you going?"

"Out," was Reid's rude reply. "Is that _okay_ with you?"

"Sure…" Tyler, surprised, backed off from Reid's tone. Wherever Reid was headed, it was a place he didn't feel like discussing. Tyler plopped back down on his pillow, snuggling with it like he would a teddy bear.

"Can you turn off the light on your way out? I think I'm going to sleep straight into next week."

"Yeah, whatever," Reid said, grabbing Tyler's keys and flicking the light off on his way out.

Reid was thankful that Tyler didn't press the matter of where he was going, since Reid wasn't quite ready yet to let him know… about him and Elle.

Reid smiled at the thought of her, his heart beating wildly in anticipation of seeing her face soon and he padded down the stairs of the school. Nothing could bring him down, not even the dirty looks of fellow students, or the whispers as he passed. His mind was only on one thing, and that was the glorious mahogany-haired woman waiting for him at the local coffee shop.

A short but slow drive to town and he was there. Reid pulled his coat closer to fight the chill as he exited the Hummer, trudging through the rain to get to '_Jive n' Java_', which was a good hundred feet away. It seemed only to be getting colder out, with no signs of stopping soon.

He was a bit early, so he grabbed a spiced latte and took a seat by a window. Five minutes later, the bell above the door jingled to announce her arrival.

She was wet from head to toe, and rung the water out of her hat before entering the shop. Her wavy locks were now flat and stringy. Reid didn't get up to greet her, but rather played it cool, took another drink of his coffee, and let her come over to him. He was thankful and relieved she had come, and more than glad to witness with his own eyes that she was okay and in her right mind.

"Hey," she said casually, setting her purse down on the checkered table and looking at him directly, with no smile.

"Hey," he replied just as coolly, though the throbbing in his chest told otherwise of how he really felt. "You want something to drink?"

"You said it was important," Elle said in her usual no-nonsense way.

"So did you," he shot back. "You first."

She sighed, and took off her green knit scarf.

"I'm glad you made it out of jail okay."

"I'm glad you're okay too," Reid retorted.

They were silent for a few moments.

"I'm having strange dreams, Reid…" she said with a frightened voice. "Disturbing ones."

He leaned in closer to make sure he caught every word.

"Like what?" he asked gently.

She furrowed her brow and cast her eyes downward.

"You and your friends are standing in a field… and its dark out… you're sad about something… you're standing over a woman on the ground-- she's… she's dead."

Reid's brow furrowed as well.

"Reid," she went on, her fear now quite evident. "I think that woman is _me_. I keep getting the feeling like someone is following me-- watching me--!"

"Elle," he interrupted loudly, trying to calm her down. He noticed that people were beginning to stare. "Elle," he said in a lower voice. "Are you sure it was you?"

"No," she admitted, her face flushing with shame. "I couldn't see her face. It was just a feeling. It feels so real… like I was actually there."

"Preconjured dreams tend to feel like that," Reid explained, leaning back in his chair.

"Pre- what?" she asked with confusion.

"They're spell dreams, meant to scare you. Caleb's girlfriend went through the same thing."

Elle grabbed Reid's hand, letting her emotion take over and the fear break through. Her hand was shaking. She looked at Reid in all seriousness and asked:

"Should I be afraid?"

"Yeah, probably," he said without thinking. "It's what I came to tell you. The fifth bloodline wants you and I think its because you might be the safehouse for our Power at the moment."

"Your Power is gone?"

"Yeah, but don't worry; I can still protect you if you need me, if it makes you feel any better. I don't need to Use to kick ass."

She didn't seem convinced.

"Has your dad come back yet?" Reid asked, taking another sip of coffee.

"No," she replied. "I don't want to go back to that horrible empty house, but I'm not ready to move in with Sarah yet. I haven't even finished packing."

"Uhh," Reid replied with a snicker, recalling the last time he had seen the possessed Sarah. "I don't think she's ready for you either."

They paused for a moment, and a smile began to dance on the edges of Reid's mouth. She could rightly assume exactly what he was thinking.

"No," she said firmly. "You are _not_ staying over."

He didn't say anything in response, but the grin broke through.

"I just got _raped_, Reid. I'm not about to let some horny smartass sleep over my house…"

His teeth showed through his smile.

"No!" she protested. "Get the thought out of your testosterone-driven head."

Reid leaned across the small table and kissed her on the ear.

"It's for your own protection…" he whispered suggestively.

She bit her lip, looked him in the eye with shame, and caved.

"Well, when you put it that way…"

-

Caleb, Pogue and Tyler all paced in the empty library that evening, putting their heads together, trying to sort through the issues at hand.

"Without the _Book of Damnation_, it's a lot harder to guess what his next step is," Caleb said. "We know that he's using the girls to spread rumors around the school about how 'evil' we are. But that can't be all he needs them for."

"What I want to know is why Chase can keep Using when we _can't_," Tyler said. "Do you think there's a way around the Curse that we're missing?"

"Maybe because _he_ cast it, it doesn't affect him," Pogue guessed.

"Why doesn't he show himself?" Caleb wondered. "What is he hiding from?"

"Caleb," Tyler asked next. "What happens when Reid Ascends without any Power?"

"I just don't know," Caleb said, collapsing into a chair. "There are more questions than answers here."

"Hey," Pogue said, tapping Tyler to grab his attention. "Where is Reid anyway?"

"Don't know," Tyler said. "He's not answering his cell."

Caleb and Pogue exchanged knowing looks of concern.

"I'm sure he'll turn up," Caleb assured Tyler.

"Oh… my… God…" said a voice from behind them.

All eyes turned to a scrawny-looking boy with large, thick glasses and a camera in hand, which he promptly flashed at the boys. He had flaming red hair and an enthusiastic smile, and looked upon the boys with admiration all over his face.

"Can I help you?" Caleb asked with confusion.

"You'retheShonsofIpshwish, right?" he said so quickly you could barely understand him, and the lisp wasn't helping matters.

"Sorry?" Caleb asked again.

"And you're Caleb, right?" he said a little more clearly. "I shaw you guysh on the newsh the other day. I taped it."

Pogue and Caleb exchanged glances, something they were doing often, of late.

"Who _is_ this guy?" Pogue whispered to Caleb.

"Hey," Caleb countered. "At least he's not discriminating against us like everyone else."

"I jusht want to shay how aweshome you guysh are," the boy went on. "I wish I had powersh like yoursh—that is _sho_ _cool_! Like a real life epishode of Xsh-Men or shomething. Can you, like, read my mind?"

"As if we could _find_ it," Pogue commented under his breath, and Caleb elbowed him. Tyler couldn't suppress a snicker.

"I'm Robbie," he said, vigorously grabbing Caleb's hand and shaking it. "You mind if I shit with you guysh?"

"_What_ did he just say?" Tyler asked, flaunting his immature humor.

"Actually, Robbie, we were just leaving," Caleb said, rising to his feet. "It was nice to meet you, though."

"Hey, anytime," he said, saluting them off. "I'm around if you need me to, like, deshign cool uniformsh or whatever."

"I'm sure you are," Caleb said with a phony smile.

"He thinks we're _superheroes_," Tyler laughed in a low voice as they left the library. "We blow up a couple of buildings and suddenly we're the freakin' Fantastic Four."

"Yeah," Caleb muttered, shaking his head. "If only he knew…"

-

"Reid…" Elle said when they reached her front porch. She sighed deeply, as if wondering if it was really worth it to go through with what she wanted to say. She fingered her keys nervously. "Thanks for walking me home…"

Reid suspected he knew what was coming. She was rethinking what she had said.

"I was serious when I said I'd protect you and all that," he said, looking up to her standing on a higher step. "Even if it's from me."

She frowned at him with regret.

"I want us to be together, but… it's just too soon, Reid."

Reid looked at the girl standing before him with understanding and a bit of anger, knowing she was damaged goods. She was afraid of him like the abused little girl she was. He could see it in her eyes when she looked at him, when he tried to kiss her or touch her. It wasn't him that she saw. It was an assailant.

Reid grabbed her hand, his blood boiling in anger at the injustice of it. He was just going to have to take it slow, is all. But only after justice was served to the bastard who did this to her.

"Elle," Reid said through his teeth. "I swear, I'll be a saint and not go anywhere I'm not invited… But Chase is still out there and I'd still like to say with you, if that's cool."

At this, Elle grinned broadly in immense gratitude, and nodded fiercely.

"I'd like that," she said gladly.

With that she turned to the door and stuck her key in the lock, and let them both inside. She set her purse on the kitchen counter immediately, and began to straighten a few things around the living room.

It was a small house, not much bigger than the size of Pogue's apartment. It was the perfect accommodation for two people such as Elle and her father. It was cozy and well kept, with calming colors to decorate the living area and bright cheery ones for the kitchen. The décor was more than likely the handiwork of Elle, complete with silk flowers and detailed painting on the walls.

Reid helped himself to a spot on the sofa, and Elle came and curled up next to him. He let himself dig his nose into her hair, breathing in her scent greedily. She used a shampoo with strawberry fragrance, most definitely.

"One more thing, though, Reid," she said, looking up at him. "Did you ever tell Tyler about us? I've been trying to call, but he doesn't ever answer."

Reid frowned at the mention of Tyler's name, ruining a perfectly good moment.

"It's probably be best if he doesn't know," Reid admitted truthfully. "It's not that I'm afraid or anything, but this Curse thing has to do with Tyler's bitching towards me. If we told him, it'd only make it worse, and then we'd _never_ get our Power back."

She looked at him directly as if she didn't believe him.

"It's not right, Reid."

"Trust me," he assured her. "You don't know him like I do. With all he has on his plate right now, and then he hears about this-- He'd fly through the roof. Give it another day or so. He'll be fine."

-

**  
I'm gearing up for the big finale, but it's still a few chapters away yet. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**

**PS. In honor of the success of this story, I posted a trailer I made for it: _The Covenant 2: The Ipswich Curse_, on YouTube. I think it came out rather well. I have the link to it on my profile page. Go check it out!**


	17. Chapter 17: The Plan

**Chapter 17:**

-

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Reid said hurriedly, setting his jacket on the hook behind his dorm door. Tyler jerked up from laying on his bed to an upright position, immediately on alert.

"Where have you been?" he demanded, and Caleb and Pogue, who stood nearby, inclined an ear, interested to know what Reid would answer.

"What are you, my babysitter?" Reid shot back with a smug grin, wiping off his black beanie and setting it on his dresser. "Calm _down_, killer."

"You didn't get back all _night_!" Tyler interrogated suspiciously. "Where _were _you?"

Again, Caleb and Pogue looked to Reid expectantly.

"Out," Reid replied mechanically. "Are we going to get down to business anytime soon? I have somewhere to be."

"Yeah, sit down," Caleb commanded. Reid went to his bed, firmly shoved Tyler off of it, and took his place upon it.

"Listen, my mom and the _Chronicles_ can only give us so much information," Caleb said seriously. "We can't get anywhere without our knowledgebase."

"What are you suggesting?" Pogue asked with concern.

"It's dangerous for the _Book of Damnation_ to be in the clutches of the government. With any luck, they haven't reached the end of it yet. I think we should take it back before they ever do."

"_What_?" Pogue and Reid said together. Tyler wasn't really paying attention, but was distracted in a search for something on the floor. At the sudden outburst from Pogue and Reid, his head whipped up and he paid strict attention.

"Wait-- _what_?" he asked of anyone who would listen. "What's going on?"

"Caleb wants to pull a 'Ocean's Eleven' on the _FBI_!" Reid laughed in giddy disbelief.

"No way! For the books?"

"_Yeah_, for the books," Pogue retorted. "Look, I know we need them and all, but without any Using—we're just normal guys. We'll get caught."

"We can do this," Caleb assured them.

"This is crazy," Reid decided. "Look, this is _me_ saying this: the crazy one. I'm saying this is crazy."

"Reid's right, Pogue's right, they're both right," Tyler jumped in, going back to his quest to find whatever it was he was searching for. "Has anyone seen my cell phone?"

"Nope," Reid replied a little too quickly, then turned back to Caleb. "I know you aren't just saying this without thinking it through. What's your plan?"

"When we were inside," Caleb explained. "I saw where they were keeping the books. If we could just get in long enough to look through them, at the very least, then it's worth a shot. Best-case scenario, we get out with them and stash them somewhere no one can ever find them again. I've toyed with a couple of ideas--"

"Seriously, guys," Tyler said, searching through the pockets of every jacket he owned. "I've been looking for days and I can't find my phone."

"Did you try calling it to hear the ring?" Pogue suggested.

"Yeah, no luck," Tyler admitted. "Sorry, Caleb, go ahead."

"As I was saying," Caleb cast Reid a warning look as he spoke. "I have a couple of ideas, but I wanted to see what you guys thought about it first."

"Whatever," Reid shrugged it off like it was no big deal. "You want to rob the FBI, it's cool with me."

"I figured _you_ would be, Reid," Caleb muttered. "What about you, Pogue?"

"It's dangerous," he said, folding his arms. "It's foolish, and it's insane. Sounds like the 'same old, same old' to me."

"And Tyler?" Caleb said. "Don't feel pressured into this. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"And be the only one left out of the fun?" he said, sifting through a nearby dresser. "You're _kidding_, right? Where _is_ that stupid phone?"

"Alright," Caleb said, getting up to go. "I'm going to go keep an eye on Sarah and work on a plan."

"I'll come with you," Pogue said, grabbing his leather jacket.

"I gotta jet too," Reid said, grabbing Tyler's keys. "'Places to go', and all that."

"Reid," Tyler said suddenly with thick confusion. "Why is my _cell phone_ in your _underwear_ _drawer_?"

"Why are _you_ in my underwear drawer?" Reid shot back, then, deciding that was the end of the discussion, left the room without another word.

Caleb immediately followed, while Pogue lingered.

"Reid has a point, you know," he said as he left, a teasing smile on his face. "That's just _weird_. You might want to check the ringer, it's probably on 'silent'."

Tyler could only glare at him as he left.

"Yeah, _thanks_," was his cynical reply.

-

Caleb leaned over the keyboard in the library and sighed. Though this whole 'heist' thing seemed like a good idea in his head, when he found a map of the interior of the building, it seemed so impossible without their Power. Not to mention the librarian, Cathy, kept a close eye on him over the rim of her cat-eyed glasses. She wasn't giving him any slack due to their exploitation, and it was only a matter of minutes before she found what he was up to. And if that happened, it would surely mean bad news.

Finally he gathered his things and got up to go, hitting the escape key as he did so. It was hopeless.

"Intereshting reshearch you're conducting," said a lispy voice that made Caleb jump. Caleb turned to see that scrawny kid named Robbie shadowing him once more. He seemed to be Robbie's favorite for that.

"It's nothing; its just a little homework," Caleb said half-truthfully. Robbie smirked like he thought he was slick stuff.

"What shubject?" he challenged.

"Uh," Caleb stammered. "Engli— Economics."

Robbie leaned closed, smiling so that his braces showed.

"I can help you with your 'Economicsh'," he said with a not-so-subtle hint.

Caleb looked at him curiously with narrowed eyes for several moments. He thought about denying everything, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"How?" he asked cautiously.

-

Reid parked Tyler's large Hummer next to a particularly short tree on the vast foresty countryside, and grabbed the take-out he had bought for him and Elle. He walked over to the girl waiting for him on the Ipswich bridge: a short, quaint little brick bridge that had been here as long as his family lineage had. Elle sat upon the stone railing with her bared feet dangling over the side, staring at the trickling stream below with a faraway look in her eye.

"Hey," he called to announce his presence. At the sound of his voice she perked up immediately, holding a hand out for the bag of food.

"Did you get orange chicken?"

"Duh," he replied with offense, handing her the bag. She immediately grabbed a pair of chopsticks and dug in.

"I told you to wait at the house," Reid said, sitting down beside her and doing the same. "You shouldn't be out here all by yourself."

"How much longer are we going to meet like this?" Elle asked. "I don't mean to nag, but… meeting in the middle of the country to avoid being seen by Tyler? Don't you think that's a bit much?"

"I told you," Reid insisted, taking in a mouthful of chow mien. "It's fine. Just wait until after I Ascend-- it's just two days away-- and I'll tell him everything myself. Not like it matters anyway."

"Reid," Elle said, putting her chopsticks down. "What's up? I mean, really?"

Reid frowned and didn't speak.

"Com'on," Elle urged. "Say it."

"Whatever, it's nothing."

"Don't _make_ me make you," she threatened.

"I said: it's nothing," he insisted coldly.

"If it's nothing than why are you so tweaked?"

"I'm not tweaked."

"Boy, you _reek_ tweaked."

"Just drop it, okay?"

"I'm not going to until you 'fess up--"

"--He hasn't talked about you!" Reid burst out angrily. "_Alright_?"

Elle doubled back in confusion.

"Pardon?"

"Not _once_, Elle," he went on, throwing a leg over the stone wall to look at her directly. "Tyler hasn't asked about you, he hasn't worried about you, he hasn't even said your name since we got arrested. What kind of a guy doesn't even mention their supposed _girlfriend_ after she just got _raped_? Not even a _glimpse_ of concern? I tell you: the kind that doesn't _CARE_."

Elle seemed speechless, which was just as well, since Reid wasn't finished yet.

"All our lives he's always wanted what I wanted, just because it was _me_ who wanted it. From toys, to cars, to girls, it's always the same thing. The stupid kid can't think for himself. As soon as he saw me get up with Kira, he didn't give a shit about you anymore. So why should we?"

Elle seemed insulted.

"That's not true! How can you assume that? I'll have you know, he was with me the whole time at the party."

"Which part? The part where Aaron pulled a gun on you when he was nowhere to be found?"

"Yeah, that same part when he _saved your life_," Elle shook her head in disbelief. "You said this Curse was held on by anger amidst the Covenant. I see now Tyler isn't the only one with the 'grudge issues'."

"Yeah, I'm a little pissed. Why aren't you?"

"Because, quite frankly, he's not the boy I should be concerned about anymore."

Reid sighed and looked away, but Elle put a palm to his cheek and directed his gaze back to her.

"But _you_ should be," she said. "He's practically your _brother_."

Reid frowned again and looked back to the running stream below them.

"Which is _exactly_ why he can't know yet."

-

"Guys," Caleb said to Tyler and Pogue, who were in the locker room getting ready for a swim. Robbie, who stood behind Caleb, seemed a little intimidated by their almost naked presence.

"Robbie just made things a helluva lot easier for us," Caleb finished.

"_That_ Robbie?" Tyler pointed to the curly-haired redhead. "You got the _geek_ involved?"

"Tyler--!" Caleb was ready to scold, but Robbie defended himself first.

"I'll have you know thish 'geek', ash you call me, hash accesh to an unlimited shupply of shpyware shtuff, _and--_"

"—And his dad's a locksmith," Caleb explained. "And has taught Robbie here everything he knows… follow?"

Pogue and Tyler smiled broadly.

"Nice," Tyler said with an approving nod.

"Alright, then!" Pogue agreed happily. "When do we strike?"

"As soon as one of you locates Reid," Caleb replied. "We do this _tonight_."

-

**  
Big finale still coming, which is probably why I've been neglecting my other Cov fic. I estimate about five more chapters left, give or take a couple. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	18. Chapter 18: The Heist

**Chapter 18:**

-

Caleb looked upon the dreaded FBI building with a looming anxiety. There was a big chance this could go ill tonight, and they wouldn't have to take them very far to lock them all up again. And now they were bringing an outsider into this.

Caleb glanced at the redheaded sophomore, who was busy fiddling with the lock to the custodial entrance where he and the rest of the Covenant boys stood waiting for the kid to work his magic, since they all were minus theirs.

Caleb gulped back the thought of Using. It begged to be called upon inside of him, since he was the only one left with it in him. The other boys seemed to be quite content without their Power, and seemed to have no trace of withdrawals of any kind. Which was more than Caleb could say for himself.

Caleb had always been careful not to Use much, but when you had as much Power inside of you as he had, it sometimes was too much when he went too long ignoring it.

But no, he needed a better place, a better time, and a better reason to Use than here and now.

It was eerily quiet here in this back alley in which they stood, save for the clicking of Robbie's pick to the lock. Reid especially, seemed very deep in thought and hadn't said a word all the way here. He kept glancing at an oblivious Tyler, then going back to chewing on his thumbnail like he usually did and staring off into the void. Pogue was shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously, probably wanting to get this over with. Tyler seemed excited to get inside and kept asking Robbie every five seconds if he was done yet.

"Shtop ashking," Robbie shot back haughtily. "I'm almosht there!"

With a good turn, a loud click was heard, and Robbie stood up with his chest puffed and his face beaming with pride.

"Thank you very mush," Robbie boasted, raising his hands to calm an invisible mob of fans. "No autographsh _pleash_!"

"Nicely done, Rob," Caleb said gratefully, giving him a pat on the back.

Robbie stood motionless, simply beaming at Caleb with a full smile.

"What?" Caleb asked impatiently.

"You called me 'Rob'," he replied giddily. "That meansh we're, like, _friendsh_ now, right?"

"Yeah…" Caleb agreed half-heartedly, a shot of guilt coming over him for using Robbie like this. "We're _like_ friends…"

"Move," Tyler said, shoving him aside. Caleb gasped and quickly grabbed at Tyler, yanking him back to the group.

"What are you _doing_?" Caleb hissed harshly.

"What?" Tyler protested.

"We're about to infiltrate a highly secured government facility. Do you _really_ expect to just _walk_ right in there?"

"What do you suggest?" Tyler asked.

"Glad to hear you were paying attention in the briefing, Ty," Caleb retorted snottily. "That makes me feel _real_ good about all this."

Tyler shrugged it off and smiled shamefully.

"Just follow my _lead_," Caleb commanded with annoyance.

"Reid," Caleb said, making a phone gesture near his own ear. "Stay out here and call my cell if there's trouble."

"No way," Reid protested. "You are _not_ making me the lookout!"

"Your head isn't in the game tonight," Caleb insisted. "Keep an eye out."

Reid folded his arms defiantly, but surprisingly said no more.

With that, Caleb, Pogue, Tyler and Robbie secured gloves on their hands and entered into the building. They were on the maintenance floor, so they quickly found their way through the dark abandoned floor up a flight of stairs. That was the easy part.

Since crime never sleeps, there was a desk cubicle here and there that still had it's lamp on, which meant there were some overnight filers or caseworkers lingering for the owl shift. It was expected.

Caleb motioned to the others with his hands to not make a sound, and to follow him. Crawling on his hands and knees, he passed the maze of cubicles, strategically avoiding the ones with lights.

"Still awake, George?" one man called to another.

Caleb froze, and so did the others.

"Not for long," a deeper voice replied. "I'm going to go make some more coffee; you want me to add a little more water for ya?"

"That'd be great, thanks."

Caleb panicked, hearing the man in the cubicle just to the right of him get out of his chair, his footsteps headed their way. Caleb waved furiously for his friends to get back. Pogue cleverly dove into an empty cubicle, and the rest of them did the same, just as the man walked past.

Caleb let the breath out that he had been holding and started off again. Once they were in the hall, he stood upright again, tiptoed down the hall and headed for the evidence rooms.

"Over there is where they keep the book," Caleb explained in a whisper, motioning to a door ahead, then pointing to another in the opposite direction. "And our files were put over there. You know what to do. Robbie? Your time to shine again."

Robbie stepped forward and got to work on the door that contained the _Book_ _of_ _Damnation_ first. Once he got it open, Caleb disappeared inside to start the search, and Robbie went on to the next door.

"Shure would be a lot eashier if you jusht ushed your powersh," he whispered in his lispy voice, spitting a little when he spoke.

"Don't have 'em," Pogue explained back. "It's why we're here in the first place."

With that, Robbie clicked open the door, and together they entered the room, unsure of what they would find.

It was a small room, too big to be a closet and too small to be considered anything else. Silver file cabinets stretched from wall to wall, and in the center, a computer on a tall table.

Tyler closed the door behind them for privacy, then rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Alright, we're in! Hey, Robbie, _you're_ a geek—you search the computer for stuff on us."

Robbie frowned for a moment, wondering if he should bee offended at the comment, but decided against it and headed over to the computer while Pogue and Tyler headed to the file cabinet.

-

Reid put his hands in his pockets to fight the cold, breathing out deeply in an attempt to stifle his shivering torso. He tried to jump up and down, and to shake out his legs, but nothing helped. He now wished he had brought an extra jacket like Mother Caleb had told him to, though he would take that secret to his grave.

He waited beside the set of three cement stairs that led up to the blue door that his friends had entered through, just beyond the shine of the overhead spotlight that came from a single bulb in a socket above the door. Reid was not the most patient man… especially when it was cold.

"Gotta be the _lookout_…" he mimicked Caleb as he shuffled the dirt under his feet. "Your head isn't in the _game_… Who the hell made _him_ the tyrant anyway?"

But he was right. Reid's head had been deliberating all night on how he was going to tell Tyler about Elle and him. He had vowed he would tell Tyler by tomorrow, but Reid couldn't seem to find the right moment. Now, in particular, was a fine example of a bad time to tell Tyler. All the times lately, had seemed like a bad time.

_Crash_.

Reid's head whipped up toward the noise, coming from down the alleyway. A shadow flashed across his view.

"Oh, shit!" he muttered, seizing his pocket to grab his cell phone and jetting behind a dumpster for cover. As quietly as he could, he punched the number to Caleb's phone.

-

Caleb pulled the sacred _Book of Damnation_ from its evidence bag slowly and carefully. The plan had been to slip it in pack direction then go join Pogue, Tyler and Robbie in destroying files, but he couldn't help but open it in case, feeling a sense that he might never get to read this book again.

He couldn't tell if it was good fortune or ill fate, but somehow he fell on the exact page that he needed to see. His eyes grew wide at what he read, and soon, it became too much. He pried his eyes off the pages and paced once back and forth, wondering what to make of this new information. If he hadn't been so quiet then, he would've never heard it.

Footsteps.

Just then his cell phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Thanks for the _warning_, Reid," Caleb muttered sarcastically, slamming the _Book_ closed and looking around the room for a place to hide.

But there was no time. No time to hide the book, no time to hide himself.

Rapidly his heart raced as he stuffed the book inside his black bag, but he was taking too much time, the footsteps were getting closer. Caleb's heart practically stopped when the knob began to turn.

The security guard glanced around the empty room with suspicious eyes. Something was missing… what was it?

As he stepped fully into the room, he looked around for any misplaced items. He looked at the cabinets, and circled behind the desk. Unfortunately, he didn't know what was here to begin with. Yet still, something was not right.

Caleb gulped at the security guard's very shiny set of black shoes, inches away from his own shoe. He focused on controlling his nervous heavy breathing, but he was beyond stopping the sweat pouring down his temple. The pair of black shoes turned and stepped past him, then back near his foot again. Caleb had a slight view of the tall guard, and looked up right at him in awe of how he hadn't been discovered yet.

Then the pair of shoes walked away, closing the door after himself and allowing blood to flow through Caleb's body once more. The young man let out a sigh of deep relief.

But he wasn't out of the woods yet. Those darn shoes were now firmly rooted shadows on the other side of the door, guarding anyone from coming or going.

The cell in Caleb's pocket began to vibrate once more. He still would not dare answer it, for fear of being heard.

Caleb sighed deeply, casting his gaze to the heavens and wondering how in the world he got himself in these situations. But when his eyes focused on the ceiling, he found himself divinely inspired. The perfect way out.

Well, almost perfect: even though the eighties were long over, it was a drop board ceiling, and he could only hope it wasn't too old of a drop board ceiling or it might give way… but it was his best bet at escape.

Caleb quietly stood up on the desk and gently lifted the board from its slot, making sure not to make any noise.

But the board creaked and complained from being moved, and Caleb watched the shoe shadows very carefully for movement, but there was seemingly none. He lifted the bag and shoved it through before himself. In one smooth movement, Caleb hoisted his body through the hole. Those extra swimming sessions for upper body strength sure came in handy right about now…

-

Tyler and Pogue hurriedly stuffed the files into their own bags, while Robbie typed away at the keyboard of the computer. All men in the room jumped at a noise from above, and were surprised to see Caleb climb in through the ceiling.

"Don't any of you _dare_ say: 'nice of you to drop in'," Caleb warned them. "How we doing in here?"

"Shplendiferous," Robbie said proudly. "I'm jusht about done with the virush encoding."

"Yeah, good," Caleb said absentmindedly as he began to help them stuff files into the bags. "Guys, listen… I found something in the book."

"Something bad by the look on your face," Pogue observed.

"Really bad," Caleb confirmed. "It's Reid, he's--"

Caleb's phone insisted on being answered, vibrating for the third time. Caleb sighed and dug the cell out of his pocket.

"Hold on, guys," he said to the others, and lifted it to his ear. "A little _late_ to warn us about the guard, Reid."

"I think you know by now the guard is the least of your worries," said a chilling voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh god," Caleb said, immediately recognizing it. Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at Caleb in wonder. The confusion was only added when they saw the fear in Caleb's eyes.

"Chase…" when the name left his lips, both Pogue and Tyler gasped in horror as well, while Robbie was still left in the dark. "What did you do with Reid?"

"There you go, that's a _better_ thing to worry about," Chase's voice replied. "Come join me on his birthday—I'm throwing him a hell of a _party_…"

"_Damn_ you, Chase!" Caleb yelled at the phone, but the line had already gone dead.

"Hey, who's in there?" said a distant voice from down the hall. The guard had heard Caleb's shouting, and soon his heavy footsteps followed.

"Caleb!" Tyler protested. "You just gave away our position!"

"But we're not done!" Pogue insisted.

"Then we'll do it the old-fashioned way," Caleb replied, breaking a nearby lamp on the table's sprawled out papers and igniting them in flame. "Now let's _go_!"

Caleb grabbed the desk chair and banged it at a small window above them, before giving it to Tyler to wedge against the door.

As the guard on the outside began to bang on the door, Tyler and Pogue followed Caleb's example and squirmed out the tiny window overhead, urging Robbie to the same.

"Eeehh… I'm afraid of heightsh, and that glassh looksh a little dangeroush…"

"Geekface!" Tyler called to him. "Get your butt up here _now_!"

The guard had now resorted to shoving his weight against door in an effort to bust it down. Time was running out.

"_NOW_!"

Robbie looked at the quickly growing flame, then weighed his options. At last, he grabbed his bag and climbed up.

-

**  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	19. Chapter 19: The Beginning of the End

**Chapter 19:**

-

Elle waited on her sofa, peering out the window and watching the cars go by on the busy street. She counted forty-eight white cars, twenty-three red, fifteen black, eight blue, two green, and still no sign of Reid.

Elle sighed loudly, beginning to get a little worried at the dark of the night and the loneliness of her house, but mostly, for what in the world was keeping Reid…

-

Caleb sighed in fatigue and worry as he dropped their prize, the _Book of Damnation_, onto the desk in Reid and Tyler's dorm the next morning. The book was almost a cursed thing to hold, knowing that it had cost them one of their own to retrieve it.

"Reid's gone," Caleb repeated for the fiftieth time that day. "I just can't believe it."

Pogue sat down at the desk and stared at Caleb. Tyler leaned against the wall nearby.

"Why would he take Reid?" Pogue wondered.

"He's the one Ascending," Caleb replied. "Not to mention we made it really convenient for Chase by leaving Reid outside alone in a dark alley. What's he up to?"

"What were you going to say yesterday?" Tyler asked Caleb. "About Reid—you were about to tell us something you read in the book before Chase called you—what were you going to say?"

Caleb promptly opened the book and shoved it Tyler's way to let him read it for himself. Tyler took a few moments to scan over the words, and quickly gathered their meaning.

"So Reid's pretty much screwed," Tyler guessed.

"Yeah, pretty much," Caleb agreed, as Pogue leaned over to read too, but found himself unable to upside-down.

"Why, what's it say?" Pogue asked.

"If he doesn't have the Power in him when he Ascends," Caleb explained. "It'll compensate and he'll get it back from the entity, but including all of ours as well… and with ours on top of what he gets from the Ascension, he'll overdose for sure."

"He'll die," Pogue caught on. "Then we're still on square one… how do we _get_ our powers back?"

"We only get them back if the entity wills them back to us."

"So let's do it!" Tyler pressed.

"There's a catch to that too," Caleb explained. "If the entity wills the Power away, it'll be just like if any of us did it."

"The _entity_ will die," Pogue guessed correctly once more. "Not to mention we're not sure who the entity _is_."

"So basically, come Reid's birthday, _someone_... is gonna push up daisies," Tyler observed. "Well, _that_ sucks. I thought we agreed _Elle_ was the entity?"

Caleb leaned in to his friends with a furrowed brow.

"We can't be sure," Caleb informed.

"Then why would Chase be so interested in her?"

Caleb had his suspicions, but he didn't want to get Tyler riled up by revealing them. Pogue suspected this, and cast Caleb a look of warning that he was thinking on the same level.

"Tyler, call Elle and warn her," Caleb commanded instead. "I have a feeling Chase is going to be 'inviting' her to his party next."

Tyler nodded, and opened the door to reveal none other than the provost himself, standing in the doorway looking as if he was about to knock.

"Provost Higgins!"

"Ah good, you're here," he said blatantly. "I have something to give you."

He handed Tyler a white envelope.

"What is it?" Caleb asked, getting up and looking over Tyler's shoulder to see.

"It's an order of your suspension," Provost Higgins replied. "I have one for each of you. Where's the Garwin boy?"

"Not here," Caleb replied immediately, grabbing his envelope from the Provost as well. "Can I ask _why_ we're being suspended, Sir?"

"You can thank _him_ for that," the provost retorted, pointing a finger at Pogue. "He's the one who blew up our school bathrooms and half of our biology lab. The school has issued a committee meeting tonight to decide whether you four are suited to attend a college."

"You're going to ban us from college recommendations because of our _abilities_?" Tyler spat out in disbelief.

"Well, not _yet_," Provost Higgins replied with a flicker of a smug grin. "We'll see after tonight, won't we? I suggest you come if you want to have your side heard. Have a good day, gentleman."

"Yeah, a _real_ good day," Tyler said sarcastically, then closed the door again. He turned to the others. "Can you _believe_ this?!"

"I just wondered what took them so long," Pogue countered.

Caleb nodded his agreement.

"My thoughts exactly."

"Well," Tyler pouted disappointedly. "I, for one, didn't see it coming."

They paused for several moments.

"So who's going to speak our case for us?" Caleb asked. Tyler snickered, and Pogue even smiled at the fact that Caleb had to even ask.

"Com'on, Caleb," Pogue said impatiently, hitting his friend with the envelope in his hand. "You _know_ it has to be you."

"I was afraid of that," Caleb said with another heavy sigh. "I'd better go then. I'll need to work on what I'm going to say."

"We'll be right there to back you up, man," Pogue assured him.

-

"What do you _mean_ you can't find Reid?" Elle protested over the phone with Tyler.

"He disappeared yesterday," Tyler explained on the other end. "We think the same guy that got to you, got to him too."

Elle put her hand on her forehead, sighing in worry.

"What can we do?"

"We have a feeling he'll show up after our hearing tonight."

Elle bit her lip.

"Has he told you yet?" she asked cautiously.

"Told me what?" Tyler retorted quickly.

Elle stayed silent for a moment, disappointment coming over her in a sudden wave.

"Nothing. I have to go, Tyler."

"All right, take care of yourself," he said, then hung up.

"I'll try," Elle said to no one, then flipped her phone closed. She suddenly felt very alone. Looking around the house, she decided it was unsafe to just stick around here in an empty house. She grabbed her jacket and left out the front door, planning on eventually making her way to that hearing.

Suddenly a man came walking up the sidewalk, staggering in fatigue. Elle's heart lurched in fear, recognizing him quickly. She dropped her purse and ran to him.

"Reid!" she called, running top speed. "What happened?"

Reid suddenly seemed in perfect health, and looked to Elle with a sinister smile that she had never seen in him before.

"Hey diddle diddle," he said evilly. "The cat played the fiddle…"

"What?" she said in confusion. "Reid, what are you saying?"

"The little dog laughed, to see such sport!" he went on.

Suddenly he crashed his lips onto Elle's soaking up her splendor for all she was worth. It was a kiss that felt familiar, and she knew immediately that it wasn't Reid's…

"No!" she shouted, struggling to get away. "Get away from me!"

His eyes fell to black, and Chase's façade of Reid floated away like smoke, to reveal the true identity of her attacker.

"Not until the dish… that's _you_… runs away with the spoon… and that's _me_. And might I add, what a beautiful _dish_ you are…"

He laughed at his own joke, then yanked her body against his, as if in a tango.

"Come, my dear! We have a quite an event to attend."

"Where are you taking me?" Elle whispered in fear.

"Oh, don't _spoil_ it…" Chase commanded in a hiss.

-

Caleb came down the stairs of the Danvers Manor, wiping off the dust on his blazer and heading over to where his mother sat upon an armchair in front of the fireplace. There were no drinks in her hand, no liquor bottles on the table. The sight made Caleb smile.

"I'm glad you're really sticking to your promise, mother," Caleb said to the back of her chair, coming up and kissing the top of her raven-haired head. "Even in a stressful time like tonight. Even _I_ wish I had something to give me a buzz and escape all this."

"It's hard, I'll admit that much," she said bitterly. "But as long as you can deny an urge to Use your Power, then I guess I can deny an urge for alcohol."

Caleb came around to stand before her, spreading his arms out and twirling so she could get a good look at him.

"How do I look?" he asked proudly.

"Like a man ready to win a witch trial," she replied with a weak smile. Ever since his mother had stopped drinking, she had been a much weaker person emotionally, but Caleb felt that deep inside of her… she was a happier one too. It was rewarding to see her cheery face, the return of her rosy cheeks, a sight he had not seen since his father was alive and living in this very house.

Evelyn Danvers reached out and patted her son on the leg encouragingly.

"You give it to them, son," she commanded him. "I'll be along in time for the opening statements."

Caleb leaned down and embraced his mother with a contented sigh.

"Thanks, mom."

-

Caleb sat with his hands folded in his lap, looking over at the people sitting in chairs surrounding him in the school auditorium, and a long stretch of desk on the stage ahead of him was seating the committee members of the school board. A podium was set up on the stage, one that he was going to be speaking on in a few moments. Caleb had to admit he was nervous. Tyler and Pogue came to support him just as they promised, but his mother was nowhere to be found.. Whatever was keeping her had better be a hell of a reason, and hopefully one that didn't include Chase or a disaster of the sort.

They were going to call his name any second now, and the thought alone set a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He could only hope he was ready enough—and that they would have pity on a human being just like them.

"And now, Mr. Danvers," a white haired man beckoned him up to the stage. "He has requested to say a couple words on behalf of him and his fellow students in question."

Caleb took the long walk down the aisle slowly, as if heading towards his own execution.

He took a deep breath, his notes in hand, and stepped up to the podium. He stared down at the words he had written, the intense research he had received in his fight to convince the very people that sat before him. His eyes fell to the back of the crowd, imagining for a moment that Sarah was standing in the back of the theatre, laughing with Kate about something. He blinked and the image was gone, but the confidence remained.

"Good evening," he said to the microphone, perhaps a little too loudly. "Members of the board, concerned parents… everyone here."

Some waited intently to hear what he had to say. Others seemed to be wondering why they were at this doomed hearing. Caleb looked down at his notes again. Suddenly all the research seemed useless.

"You know," he said, putting his notes down and facing the people, his nervousness forgotten. "I had it planned to come up here and recite the fifth and fourteenth amendments, and to quote some pertinent speeches of famous civil rights leaders, but truthfully, once I stand before you all, I realize that's not why we're here. You already know the rights of human beings, but you all think that my fellow students and I are not one of you… and thus don't deserve those rights. Fine. I'll go along with that. Yes, we have gifts. We were born that way. We have lived among you in silence, and you have never known. Why? Because we are human, just like you. This matter, people, is personal, so I'm going to keep it that way."

He noticed their faces begin to change at his bold honesty, and some of those who were impatient before now inclined an ear to listen.

"Now, most of you here have children. You love them for everything they are-- for whatever they can or can't do. Even if they were splattered all over the news, or if everyone else in the world hated them, wanted to hurt them… or take away their right to receive an education. You would hope for the day when your child could be allowed to sit in a classroom and learn just like everyone else, and to live their lives to their full potential. That day must come for _us_ now, by allowing us to be recommended into college… and to live to our _own_ potential. Thank you."

Slowly, the audience members began to clap, starting with an enthusiastic Tyler and Pogue and growing from there.

As it began to die down, one slow clap stood out above the rest, coming from a person in a long coat walking up the aisle toward the stage.

Chase Collins himself.

Murmurs arose at the boy they had assumed deceased, walking up the aisle still clapping even after the small applause had faded away. Pogue rose to his feet, followed by Tyler.

"Inspiring," he said with cynicism, then at last, stopped clapping to leave the room in dead silence. "Simply _INSPIRING_!"

Though Caleb had thought his speech had gotten his point across rather well, he suddenly sensed that their chances of approval from the committee had just flown out the window.

-

**  
Dun dun dun. The beginning of the end has come… Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue  
PS. More songs I recommend that are fitting to and inspiring the story: _It's Been a While_ by **Staind**, and** **_Delicate_ by **Damien Rice.** Go take a listen or look up the lyrics, I encourage you. At the end of the story I'll make a soundtrack list and why I chose them, in case you missed any recommended story songs. Thanks!**


	20. Chapter 20: The Persuasion

**Some suggestive dialogue in this chapter. You have been warned.**

**-**

**Chapter 20:**

-

"Chase," Caleb said under his breath, staring at the man before him, standing alone in the alone between the crowds of seated people. Panic and anxiety came over his chest, first for all the people here, second for his case with the school committee, and third for himself.

This was bad. This was _very_ bad.

"Caleb!" Chase replied stretching his hands out to the boy on the stage as if he was read for a hug. "Your speech…" he put his hand over his heart and bowed his head. "It _touched_ me… right _here_…"

Caleb quickly hopped off the stage and began to walk over to his enemy slowly and cautiously, as if approaching an angry beast.

"Chase, let's take it outside…" he pleaded. "Not here…"

"Why not?" Chase asked, then whipped out his hands toward Caleb, strings of energy flowing from his fingers and throwing the younger man back the way he had come.

Caleb listened as the audience gasped in shock.

"This boy here," Chase said to them. "We have the same Power. What I can do… he can do."

Chase picked up Caleb and threw him down again. Pogue stepped like he was going to go help him, but Tyler took a firm handful of his shoulder to hold him back. They were useless without any Power, and would only get in the way, or worse, hurt.

"Why don't you defend yourself, Caleb?!" Chase shouted so that his voice echoed through the auditorium. "Give these people a show!"

Caleb groaned, trying to get up slowly.

"You'd need to be on the _stage_ for that…" Chase said decidedly, and picked him up with a strong dose of Power, launching him onto the stage. Caleb thought he felt something in his arm crack when he fell, and he was without the ability to Use to heal it.

"_SAVE_ YOURSELF, CALEB!" Chase taunted.

"Chase," Caleb pleaded in a low voice. "Please… let's at least take this away from the people…"

Chase acted surprised and a bit confused.

"Wait, I thought I was the _bad_ guy here-- I'm sorry…. Bad guys get to do what they want; it's in the handbook."

"Which I'm sure you've studied thoroughly," Pogue said angrily, stepping out into the aisle behind Chase, but he was only shoved back into a seat with an invisible force from Chase's hand.

Chase turned his attention back to Caleb and slammed him to the stage floor once again. The audience was in awed silence, most of them ducking to the exit. Chase didn't seem to care about them.

"Yes, yes, run for your lives…" Chase said, waving the crowd out as if bored. As soon as the last person was gone, Chase locked the double doors of the theatre after them, Using to move a long stretch of seats in front of it. He then began to laugh loudly so that his voice echoed through the auditorium ceilings.

"I don't see what's funny," Tyler said with confusion.

"What's funny, _Tyler_," Chase called back. "Is the raw IRONY of all this. Who knew that Caleb's attempts at _doing away_ with me would prove to be his undoing? If he hadn't killed me, well, _I'd_ have the Curse upon _me_ too. That, my friends, is priceless."

"What did you do with Reid?" Caleb demanded in a threatening growl.

"I am SO glad you asked. Wouldn't be a party if everyone didn't join us, would it?"

Chase flew himself over to the stage, and clapped his hands. Soon the spotlight was on him, as the rest of the stage dimmed. Pogue was thrown into a front row seat, followed by Tyler.

"Sit down!" Chase commanded, shoving Caleb in the last seat next to Pogue's. "This is going to be a doozy. If I could just have my lovely assistants…"

He nodded toward the wing of the stage, and out came Sarah and Kate in a tight, short leather dresses and long leather boots fit for gothic showgirls. Caleb's mouth dropped in shock at the black heels, the leather gloves, the dark make-up… They looked like gothic angels… fitting for the devil's right-hand girls.

"You like 'em?" Chase whispered boastfully. "Try watching them slip _into_ it…"

Pogue was immediately outraged, flying to his feet in anger, quickly followed by Caleb.

"Son of a--!"

"—You did _not_--!"

"--Calm down, boys," Chase interrupted, pushing them back in their seat with his Power. "You haven't even seen the best of it yet. Sarah, darling, let's have look behind the curtain, shall we?!"

Sarah smiled widely, and pulled back the purple velvet curtain.

"Just like my great, great, great grandfather before me," Chase said like he was announcing a TV host. "A witch of Ipswich will once more… be burned at the _stake_!"

And behind the curtain, Reid was revealed, bound to a wooden stake, logs around it as if ready for a bonfire. His back was to the pole and his hands were tied around it… beat, bruised and bloody, wearing only his jeans and a gag over his mouth. He seemed in an intense amount of pain, he was so weak it was a concentrated effort just to lift his head to look at his friends.

"God, Reid, what'd he do to you?" Tyler breathed in sympathy.

"Oh, you feel _sorry_ for him?" Chase spat out as if shocked. "I'm impressed, Sims. You save the boy's life, go through hell in lab because of it, then he steals your _girlfriend_… and you still _pity_ him! If that isn't friendship, I don't know what is…"

The theatre was suddenly quiet. Pogue and Caleb instinctively looked to Tyler, and they watched as Tyler's face plummeted, his eyes growing livid with fury to the max, so angry he was beyond words.

"Ohh…" Chase replied to this with an understanding nod. "I see… He didn't _tell_ you…"

"You BASTARD!" Tyler shouted to Reid, whose face had also gone angry. Chase let Tyler rise to his feet, only to be held down again by both Caleb and Pogue.

"I should have let Abbott blow your BRAINS OUT!" Tyler kept right on yelling despite their attempts at calming him. "_DAMN_ YOU!"

Reid could only look away from Tyler's accusing gaze. Reid's guilt was written all over his infuriated face. Caleb couldn't help but notice that Chase was closing his eyes, breathing in and out in enjoyment, as if strengthening himself in their turmoil.

"Now now!" Chase coaxed Tyler when he was through. "You can't kill him yet. We still have about five minutes before he Ascends. But before then—I need Caleb to hand over his Power to the entity… so I can take it. I need you to _Use_, Caleb… Use like you know you want to…"

Caleb furrowed his brow in concentration. Chase was right: the very thought made him breathe raggedly. He suppressed it quickly and looked his enemy in the eye.

"I didn't give it to you last year, I'm not giving it to you now."

"I figured as much," Chase replied with a nod. "So I made a little more… persuasion."

Caleb didn't like the sound of that one bit.

Chase showed his hands to the wing of the stage, where Sarah and Kate violently shoved Elle Bishop and Evelyn Danvers flat on their faces. Both appeared to be unconscious, but began to stir at their violent wake-up call.

"Mom!" Caleb called out. That explained why she had never showed for his big speech. She was busy being kidnapped by a madman. Caleb looked up at Chase with rage. By _that_ madman…

Reid's eyes grew wide at the sight of Elle, her pants dirty and tattered, her hair a mess and her face streaked with tears. Reid hummed furiously again, incoherent, however _apparent_ anger in his tone. Tyler, again, jumped on his feet and was immediately yanked back down.

"Does everybody hate me yet?" Chase asked loudly with a broad smile. "I think _so_…!"

He turned to Reid, looking up to him.

"Oh, that reminds me…" he said seriously, his voice falling low as if confessing a dark secret. "I wanted to be sure you knew… Your peach here, she was _quite_ the _tasty_ forbidden fruit, if you know what I mean. I enjoyed her thoroughly in my attempts to save my bloodline."

Reid's eyes grew wide, suspecting he understood his meaning quite well. Chase lifted himself to Reid's eye level, getting close to his face as to make sure he caught every word.

"I think she enjoyed it as much as I did… she sure _sounded_ like she did…"

It was all said in Reid's eyes, which were locked upon Chase in a murderous glare. Chase was getting to him—badly. Caleb knew that was just what Chase wanted, to weaken Reid more… but it was beyond stopped now, especially at Chase's next words:

"Oh yes…" he hissed evilly near Reid's left ear. "She moaned like a cheap _whore_… over… and _over_ again."

Reid suddenly went wild, using every ounce of strength he had trying to break free of his binds to get at Chase, screaming behind his gag.

"What was that?" Chase asked him, cupping his ear like he was deaf. "I didn't _catch_ that…"

Reid just growled back, his frustration fuming. Chase laughed and turned back to his small audience.

"Time is running out, Caleb," he informed him. "Made your decision yet?"

"I think my decision was made clear," Caleb replied angrily, wishing desperately to rip him limb from limb.

"Alright…!" Chase gave in. "I didn't want it to have to come to this…"

A wave of his hand and suddenly all the women began to clutch their thoughts and cough, as if choking.

"No!" Pogue shouted in fear.

"They have about a minute and thirty seconds." Chase announced.

"Oh, _shit_…" Tyler breathed.

Chase stepped down the stairs of the stage, looking Caleb straight in the eye.

"But you could stop this right now, Caleb," Chase said. "Stop all the suffering, the torture, the untimely ends…"

Caleb clenched his fists in an effort to restrain the growing desire in him at the thought of Using. He was surprised how hard it was to calm himself down, to slow his racing heart. It was the sound of the girl's panicked screams that did him in.

"You want to so bad you can feel it in every vein in your cold body," Chase taunted.

Caleb shook his head, trying to ignore Chase's bait but his body willing him otherwise.

"Shut up," he commanded Chase, but it was futile.

"You crave it with every fiber of your being, every beat of your dead heart, never stopping for a second, never letting you breath without the thought nagging you in your _head_! Getting CLOSE, _AREN'T_ I?"

He got in Caleb's face, and grinned, as if mocking him. His voice suddenly fell to an eerie calm.

"Welcome to _my_ life," he finished. "Use, Caleb—just Use and we can all go home. It'll all be over in about a minute. Just GIVE ME your FREAKIN' _POWER_!"

A sound arose from behind Chase, and everyone froze. It was Reid, calling out in absolute pain. Thunder began to roll above them, soft at first, but only growing louder by the second. Chase looked over his shoulder at the screaming blond behind him, then slowly turned his head back to Caleb with wide eyes.

"Oohh…!" Chase said, his mocking smile growing with childlike excitement. "Too _late_…!!"

-

**  
This is a two-part chapter, so the second part will be up in a day or two at most. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	21. Chapter 21: The Ascension

**A/N: To all my lovely readers who have been with me since I started this fic, this is for you. **

**-**

**Chapter 21:**

-

"AAAAHHHH!" Reid screamed in utter agony, as lightening came down from the heavens, piercing through the ceiling and entering into his chest. His eyes were clenched shut, his hands balled into fists.

"FINAL STRAW, CALEB!" Chase called to him. He pointed to Caleb's mother, still choking on the floor, and turning a bit purple. "Are you going to let her and the other girls DIE?"

"AAAAAHHHHH!!" Reid called out in more pain, as the surge through him began to grow. Chase looked to the blond with an envious longing all over his harsh features.

"I can't imagine what that feels like…" Chase admitted to Reid in a jealous awe. "Absorbing all that Power… But I will soon…"

Exertion's tears streaked Reid's face, the torture too much.

"_AAAAAAHHHHHH_!!!"

"Reid!" Elle choked. "Don't give in!"

"SHUT IT!" Chase snapped at her, throwing a hand in her direction in an attempt at causing her harm, but nothing happened.

"_What_?" he hissed in confusion. He looked to Reid for an answer, and found it. Even through the stress, the pain, and the hindrance of his Ascension, he still wouldn't stand for Chase laying a hand on Elle. His black iris's and outstretched hand were the traces that he had put up some sort of barrier to protect her, even if just for the split second he could manage it.

"Don't _TOUCH_ her," Reid warned him in a voice that wasn't his. It was distorted, trying to hold the Power inside of him. His eyes were finally open and pure black in color. The wood that he stood upon suddenly burst into flame, threatening Reid's life if the triple-Ascension wasn't already. Thunder cracked overhead, and the flames danced near Reid's feet.

"REID!" Elle called out in worry, putting up a hand to shield her eyes from the light upon him.

"It's YOUR turn to choose, my dear!" Chase called to her. "Are you going to let your sweetheart die just so you can beat the villain? Or spare him, will the Power to me, and die heroically yourself?"

"Chase!" Pogue suddenly yelled, stepping forward. "I have a secret to tell you!"

Chase looked to Pogue with threatening eyes, urging him to make it fast.

"Elle isn't the entity…" he informed him, much to the surprise of all. "The real one made me swear not to tell…"

His eyes fell to Caleb's mother, who shamefully looked anywhere but at her son. Caleb's eyes went wide with shock and dread.

"No…" Caleb breathed in horror. Chase seemed to have a similar look of dread. He grew alarmed, having obviously not anticipated this new development.

"I don't believe you!" Chase shouted back. "Prove it!"

"Don't have to," Pogue replied. "She'll prove it herself."

Suddenly an even bigger strike of lighting struck Reid, making him scream out with everything in him.

Then, Evelyn screamed too, her eyes falling jet black. Another strand of lightning sprang from Reid and into her chest, connecting the two together.

All eyes fell to her, as she lifted to Reid's level on the risen stage, slowly drifting through the theatre towards him. She screamed in agony as the electricity drained the life and Power right from her and into Reid.

"I…" she stammered, preparing to speak the world-shattering words.

"NO!" Chase yelled. "This was not supposed to happen this way!"

"Will…!"

"There has to be some other way!" Caleb demanded of Pogue, but he just shook his head no. Before them, Reid's yells began to fall weak, meaning he was going to die in any moment now…

"Them…!"

"Mother, NOO!" Caleb desperately called to her. "_Please_!!"

The mother looked to her son with love in her eyes, smiling a sweet, melancholy smile before uttering the final words:

"My Power."

Immediately four strands of lightning sprang from Evelyn in a large blast of energy, spearing into the four Sons and making them all yell in unison. The blast was so large it tore apart half the auditorium, revealing the police, SWAT, and FBI who were gathered on the outside.

But it regressed quickly, and not a moment too soon, for in the next second, Reid's Ascension was complete, and he dropped to the floor. Elle, fearing for his health, quickly ran to his side, trying to rouse him without success.

Evelyn Danvers then too collapsed to the ground, breathing one more time, before her eyes closed in death's slumber. Caleb rushed to her, kneeling by her side, but he knew it was too late for any goodbyes. His eyes clenched shut at the sight, a single tear rolling down his cheek. Pogue put a hand on Caleb's shoulder in sympathy.

She was gone.

Caleb slowly rose to his feet. She was gone and it was all _Chase's_ fault…

He turned to the culprit with murder in his eyes. Chase was staring at Evelyn Danvers frozen body in shock, wondering how in the world he had lost this battle… again. His gaze was empty, staring into oblivion, his mind not being able to comprehend what had just happened.

"You…" Caleb growled at Chase.

"Everyone, drop to the ground and put your hands over your head!" a policeman with a megaphone called. "Now!"

Tyler immediately shot his hands in the air fearfully, Pogue ignored them to tend to the injured and confused Kate and Sarah.

"Pogue?" Kate asked in confusion, shaking off the last traces of her trance. "What happened? What am I _wearing_?"

Pogue didn't reply, just threw his arms around his fiancée and held her tight, like he was reunited with her for the first time in years, relief swelling over him. Sarah smiled approvingly, then cast her eyes worriedly on Caleb.

Elle was too distracted with the lifeless Reid.

"Wake up!" Elle begged him. "Reid, please! Wake up!"

Tyler noticed this, and exchanged glances with Pogue nervously.

"He's okay, right?"

Pogue shook his head in stunned ignorance, not knowing how to answer.

"Right, Pogue?" Tyler asked again.

"I… don't know…" Pogue stammered, his brow wrinkling with worry.

Behind them, Caleb had grabbed Chase by the collar and yanked him close.

"You will DIE by my hands, do you hear me?!" Caleb vowed.

"You have until the count of three!" the policeman warned. "Then we _will_ open fire…ONE!"

"Crap," Tyler muttered, stretching his arms a little higher. Pogue now raised his hands as well, as did Sarah and Kate.

"Reid, _please_!" Elle pleaded, getting near hysterical that the blond wasn't breathing. Tears flowed from her eyes in streams, and she attached her ear against his chest with no intention of removing it. "Open your eyes—let me see your beautiful eyes! Please, don't _do_ this…!"

"_TWO_!" the policeman called.

"We are equally matched, Caleb," Chase reminded Caleb. "You can't kill me… You'll just make history repeat itself again."

"Yeah, but you forgot one difference between us…" Caleb said to Chase. "I have friends."

Tyler and Pogue's eyes fell black immediately at their friend's words, knowing where they were supposed to be… and that was right behind Caleb.

Chase grew furious at this, being reminded of the one thing he had always wanted… to be one of the Covenant. To grow up as they did, with homes, families… their brothers. Angrily, he raised his hands up to the sky, calling out like a battle charge, forming balls of energy in each hand.

"OPEN FIRE!" a distant voice called out.

"GET HIM!" Caleb's voice rang out at the same time.

"AAHHH!! Tyler and Pogue yelled out with battle cries, as did Chase in return. Both parties charged at one another, ignoring the police and their flying bullets completely.

Caleb raised himself into the air, flinging energy force after energy force at his hated enemy, wishing the pain of his mother's death would ease if only he could make the culprit pay.

Three against one was difficult for Chase, but he seemed to be holding his own, flinging Tyler into a wall, and Pogue into the stage.

But Caleb's rage was too large, his will too strong. Chase too, was now in the air, and the midair battle suited well to keep Caleb's loved ones still below out of harm's way. The police had seemingly stopped firing for the moment to gaze at the flying boys in awe.

"We're right behind you, Caleb," Pogue said to his right.

The three boys nodded to one another, and flew together in a straight line, ignoring Chase as he wound up for a large attack.

"Give it everything you've got," Caleb ordered his friends. "And I mean _everything_…"

The three boys lifted their hands to the jet-black sky. They cried out as if they were lifting something extremely heavy, their brows furrowing in fatigue but fighting onward.

A small ripple of Power appeared under them, slowly growing into a wave as it curled and spread to rise above them.

Chase's eyes grew wider and wider as the wave of energy became larger, and all too soon it was a tsunami, flying his way.

Sarah and Kate winced as the tidal wave hit Chase and flattened him into the ground like one would crush something underfoot. Caleb was tempted to throw him into the flames he had prepared to burn Reid at the stake. It was what he deserved.

But the moral man inside of him made him throw his now unconscious enemy at the police's mercy.

Caleb sighed and decided to be done with it.

"Fire, men," one cop shouted to the rest. "FIRE!"

A few shots came to Caleb, but they were easily flicked aside. Thankfully, Caleb didn't get the chance to decide if he wanted to defend himself or not.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" called a female voice. "THIS _INSTANT_!"

Caleb looked over to the mass of government entail and civilians gathered around, but her voice stuck out from the rest. It was none other than Caroline, his interrogator from the FBI headquarters.

"I have proof here that says these boys are completely human," she explained, holding up the papers for them to see. "It's why they were released. The real culprit behind all of these attacks, you have just shot down. So well done."

"But the boys…" the one with the megaphone sputtered in confusion. "They ripped apart the building…"

"Did you witness any of them do this?"

"Well, no…"

"I think I've made my point. Any man to fire one more shot will be arrested themselves, is that understood?"

"I don't get it--" Caleb began, but Caroline interrupted him with a smile.

"Let's just say the government will treat you just like any other paranormal issue," she explained in a low voice. "We'll brand you top secret, take you under our wings and sweep your evidence under the carpet."

Caleb tried his best to give her an appreciative grin, but his heart was so heavy he couldn't manage a convincing one. He simply thanked her instead.

She nodded a 'you're welcome', then looked to the others.

"Consider yourself government property now, gentlemen," she informed, then walked off.

Time suddenly seemed to slow down to a crawl. Caleb put his hands at his sides, and inhaled deeply as the confused officers began to move out. He watched in mourning as the paramedics put a white sheet over his mother, then carried her away.

Caleb turned back to his brothers, who were gathered around Reid's body. Tyler was trying to coax Elle off of him, but she was bawling buckets of tears and wouldn't release him for the world.

Finally, between the effort of Pogue and Tyler both, they managed to pry her away. More paramedics came and placed a white sheet over him as well, lifting his body to a stretcher and carrying him off.

Tyler could only hold Elle close as she cried freely into his shoulder. He looked ready to cry himself.

Sarah sniffed too, taking a firm hold of Caleb's hand and squeezing it tightly.

"I'm sorry, Caleb," she said sincerely. He could only nod weakly in reply, then embrace his girlfriend for all it was worth.

-

I am so sorry for this ending, but keep in mind there's still one more chapter to go! Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue


	22. Chapter 22: The End

**Chapter 22:**

**-**

That night seemed to last forever. Caleb came home to his empty house, his heart feeling just as vacant as this gloomy manor. His friends all agreed to stay at the Danvers Mansion with him until further notice. None of them really wanted to be alone anyway, especially Tyler, who dreaded that empty dorm room more than anything. More specifically, that horrid unoccupied bed across from his. He had been staying with Caleb anyway, so it wasn't too much of a stretch for either of them.

Caleb started out his large bedroom window, sighing heavily in despair. The world seemed so different tonight, and he doubted it would ever look the same again. He blamed himself because there was nowhere else to put the blame. If only he had done _some_thing.

Tyler and the girls all took guest rooms, but Pogue, fearing for Caleb's well being, felt it best to keep an eye on him.

Caleb suppressed his spinning thoughts and got into bed, but they refused to be silenced.

"Hey, Pogue," Caleb asked his friend seriously through the darkness. "There's something I've been meaning to ask…"

"You want to know how I found out about your mom being the entity," Pogue finished for him.

Caleb paused.

"Well, yeah."

"I found it in the _Chronicles_ history. Said the mother of the head of the Covenant would be the entity. I assumed that Putnam was the head, because of what the _Book of Damnation_ implies. When I went to ask her about it, she made me swear not to tell you…"

"Tell me what?" Caleb pressed.

"Because Putnam _was_ the head of the Covenant," Pogue replied. "After your father went under, your mom told me she went with Pope for a while. No one ever found out about it. She said… she gave the firstborn to the Putnam _and_ the Danvers line."

Caleb was frozen in surprise, and Pogue turned on his couchside lamp to see if Caleb was alright. He gazed across the room in concern.

"She didn't want to tell you…" Pogue went on to explain. "That you and Chase are half-_brothers_. She didn't know how you'd take it all, especially after everything that's happened…"

Caleb went wide-eyed at this information and didn't speak for many moments. Pogue sat up to see his friend better.

"Are you alright?" he asked with unease.

Caleb never answered.

-

The next morning, Caleb, Pogue, Tyler, Sarah, Kate and Elle all received their diplomas on the quad of Spenser academy, and through all the smiling and proud faces around them, theirs only expressed grief and sorrow.

Pogue and Tyler almost felt guilty that their mother's had shown, while Caleb only had Sarah left to cheer him on. But an even more horrible sight than that came through the faces in the crowd, one all three boys recognized, though their hearts tore when their eyes fell upon her.

It was Meredith Garwin.

She had finally shown up for her boy, black sunglasses over her gray eyes and a black scarf over her curly blond hair. The worst part of it was, she appeared to be searching the crowd for her boy; though he, of course, was nowhere to be found.

"Who's going to tell her?" Pogue asked the other boys. Caleb stepped forward to go, but Tyler put up his arm to stop him.

"No, let me," he said bravely. "I want to be the one to do it."

Caleb nodded him off, and Tyler slowly went up to Mrs. Garwin. His body language was very clear when he spoke, and even though they couldn't hear him it was very obvious what his words were. All too quickly Mrs. Garwin burst out into tears and crumbled to her knees, much to the confusion of the celebrating students around her.

"Mr. Danvers," interrupted a voice Caleb was now beginning to know personally. He turned to face Caroline, as she went on: "My condolences for the Garwin boy. I know he meant a lot to you three."

Caleb gulped, glancing at the crying Meredith Garwin, and couldn't find the words to reply.

"I have the results of the committee meeting last night--" Caroline went on.

"Please," Caleb shook his head apologetically at the blond woman. "I can't take any more bad news, I'm sorry--"

"—They asked me which recommendation I wanted to give, and I assumed you wanted Harvard? Please, correct me if I'm mistaken."

Caleb jerked his head up with surprise and stared in stunned confusion. After a moment, his tense face relaxed into a grin.

"No…" he breathed gladly. "You're not mistaken at all…"

She smiled back.

"I thought not… Congratulations, boys. Hopefully, we _won't_ be seeing any more of each other."

"Here's hoping," Pogue agreed.

On that note, she started off, leaving the boys to finish their day.

"Ms. Caroline!" Caleb called after her. She stopped to look back.

"Thank you," he said in all sincerity.

She nodded and smiled once more in reassurance, then walked off beyond sight…

-

**END CREDITS – To song: _It's Been a While_ – by Staind  
**

**CAST:**

_CALEB DANVERS_ - Steven Strait  
_CHASE COLLINS_ - Sebastian Stan  
_POGUE PARRY_ - Taylor Kitsch  
_SARAH WENHAM_ - Laura Ramsey_  
TYLER SIMS_ - Chace Crawford  
_REID GARWIN_ - Toby Hemingway  
_ELLE BISHOP – _Brice Dallas Howard  
_KATE TUNNEY_ - Jessica Lucas  
_EVELYN DANVERS_ - Wendy Crewson_  
CAROLINE BROOKE_ – Diane Kruger_  
WILLIAM BISHOP_ – Anthony Hopkins  
_MEREDITH GARWIN_ – Daryl Hannah  
_BEATRICE PARRY_ – Brooke Shields  
_ROSIE SIMS_ – Nancy Rhee  
_AARON ABBOTT – _Kyle Schmid  
_PROVOST HIGGINS_ – Kenneth Welsh  
_KIRA SNIDER_ – Sarah Smyth  
_NICKY THE BARTENDER_ – Jean-Loup Yale  
_SARGEANT SOBEL_ – Richard Zeman  
_OFFICER REEVE_ – Larry Day  
_REID'S INTERROGATOR _– Christopher Meloni  
_POGUE'S INTERROGATOR_ – John Goodman  
_SECURITY GUARD_ – Charles Papasoff  
_AARON'S LACKIES_ – Trevor Davis, Bobby Pena, Joey Pena

_  
_**DIRECTED BY:**  
RedRogue

_A **Brainstorm Entertainment** production_

-

**_Bonus scene:  
_**Down a dark hall and through a pair of heavy double doors, the mortician and his assistants pushed the long stretchers into the cold, gray room. All had tags on their pale, lifeless feet and sheets over the rest of their naked bodies. One of the assistants led the older woman away to prepare for some high-paying funeral, while the immediate FBI ordered autopsy was in the future of the younger boy.

The white-haired mortician pulled back the sheet of the boy. His cause of death was a mystery; one the doctor couldn't wait to unravel. Though the blond was badly injured, there was nothing large enough for the cause of death for this young witch boy who had been splattered all over the news the past few weeks.

Sighing in preparation of a long night ahead, he turned his back to the boy to gather his tools.

It was just long enough for him to miss it… as the boy's chest rose and fell in slow breathing, and the edges of his mouth twitching upward ever so slightly…

-

**_END_**

-

**Final thoughts wanted. Soundtrack list on the next chapter.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue  
PS. Special thanks to _Draco'sSecretLover_, _Crikes, naturelle, bigamericanflirt, Fredsonetrueluv, scarletwithak, Pollypocket911, twotoe, prettybeka, Mrs.St.JohnAllerdyce, Marah, ElizabethxAnne, bajan-martini, and Shadeslayer390_, who all have been reviewing more or less from the beginning and/or supported me all the way. This story is now satisfyingly COMPLETE because of all of your encouragement. **


	23. The Covenant II Soundtrack List

**Music from the Motion Picture - The Covenant II: The Ipswich Curse:**

-

Track 1: _Question_ – **System of a Down  
_Why:_ **It turned out to be the theme song for the story, since it was used in the 'trailer'.  
**_Relevant lyrics:_** _"Do we, do we know, when we fly… when we, when we go, do we die?"_

Track 2: _The Pot_ – **Tool  
_Why:_ **It's got a great riff that makes me imagine some rad fighting scenes.  
**_Relevant lyrics:_** "_You must have been high…" and "Burn the evidence down…"_

Track 3: _Schizophreniac_ – **Earthsuit**  
**_Why:_** The boys are all a little crazy. The song suits them.  
**_Relevant lyrics:_ **_"I stress in the realm of the mental…"_

Track 4: _Too Little, Too Late_ – **JoJo  
_Why:_** An Elle song, all the way. The scene with Reid and her outside Nicky's was actually based on this song.  
**_Relevant lyrics_: **_"Take my hand, you've say you've changed, but boy you're beggin' don't fool me (you know it's just too little too late)…" and "You know all the right things to say… but you don't like me, you just like the chase…" and "With a player like you, I don't have a prayer…"_

Track 5: _Inertiatic ESP _– **The Mars Volta  
_Why: _**A good song for when they get exposed._**  
Relevant lyrics: **"Now I'm lost…" and "Where wolves hide in the company of men…"_

Track 6: _Whisper_ – **Evanescence  
****_Why:_** I was reluctant to put in an Evanescence song, since I find them to be trendy and a bit cliché, but the theme in this song fit the Covenant so perfectly, I couldn't ignore it.  
**_Relevant lyrics:_** _"I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away…" and "This truth drives me to madness…" _

Track 7: _Alive With the Glory of Love_ – **Say Anything  
_Why:_ **This song seems like it's entered Reid's mind. I love this song, and I think of him every time I hear it.  
**_Relevant lyrics:_** _"When I watch you, wanna do you, right where you're standing, right on the foyer, on this dark day, right in plain view…" and "You're lovely baby, this war is crazy, I won't let you down…"_

Track 8: _Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off_ – **Panic! At the Disco  
_Why:_** Though it sucks to say this, this is a Tyler song. Getting his girl stolen, wishing he still had her, etc. And I just like this one.  
_**Relevant lyrics: **"Testosterone boys and Harlequin girls…" and "Then think of what you did, and how I hope to God he was worth it…"_

Track 9: _Delicate_ - **Damien Rice  
_Why_:** For any alone romantic scenes between Reid and Elle.  
_**Relevant lyrics:** "We might kiss, when we are alone, when nobody's watching, I might take it home…"_

Track 10: _Goodbye_ – **Plankeye  
_Why:_** One of the saddest songs ever written. I found it perfect for the scene of Reid's death when the boys were prying Elle away from his body… or when they were putting the sheet over Evelyn Danvers… or when they spot Reid's mother at the graduation… _sniff_.  
**_Relevant lyrics:_ **_"It's difficult to say goodbye after only one life…" and "I never took the time, to stop and realize, that death takes many forms, even while alive…"_

Track 11: _It's Been a While_ – **Staind **(_edited version_)**  
_Why_: **The epitome of the Covenant's views on life and love, but mostly Caleb's or Reid's view, I think. Perhaps that's only because Reid's my favorite. You decide.  
**_Relevant lyrics:_ **_"It's been a while since I could say that I wasn't addicted…" and "I cannot blame this on my father…"_


	24. The Covenant III is UP NOW!

**A/N:**

ALRIGHT PEOPLE! I am very excited to announce the premiere of **_The Covenant III_:** _The Woods Hole Warlock_. Please refer to the main Covenant page, or my profile to find it. Thanks to everyone for their support, and I hope you all enjoy another round of the Covenant movie series.

**Signed,  
--RedRogue**

PS. A trailer for _**the Cov III**_ is also in the works. I'll let you knw when I post that as well. Thanks again!


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